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Council reviews Fairpool rehab bids; staff recommends awarding base bid and deferring HVAC alternate
Summary
City staff reported the pool‑rehab base bid was value‑engineered below its $1.25M budget after negotiations; an additive climate‑control alternate would add roughly $1.1M and prompted council concern about long‑term maintenance, so members favored moving forward with the base bid at the next meeting.
City staff advised the Fairhope City Council on Dec. 8 that only one qualified bidder responded to the Fairpool rehabilitation solicitation and that negotiations produced roughly $150,000 in savings on the base bid. The base bid — after value engineering — was presented as approximately $1.2 million, under the $1.25 million budget. An additive alternate to fully climate‑control the facility was priced at about $1.1 million.
The city’s project manager described the scope as structural rehabilitation: cleaning, sandblasting and recoating steel purlins and structural members, and installing new insulation and a false ceiling to reduce exposure of the pool envelope to corrosive air. The additive HVAC/air‑treatment alternate would better control humidity and air quality but carried an estimated additional cost of roughly $1.1M.
Council debated the tradeoffs. One councilor warned that deferred HVAC work might return as expensive maintenance later, while others noted that adding the HVAC now produced a one‑time cost that could reduce future repairs and related recurring expenses. Concern centered on budget availability and ongoing operating costs for expanded HVAC systems.
Staff recommended awarding the base bid at the next council meeting to allow work to begin in the winter off‑season and suggested the council could revisit funding for the additive alternate later. Council direction at Dec. 8 favored approving the base bid for award at the next meeting and seeking alternatives or additional funding sources before committing to the HVAC additive.
No contract was awarded during the Dec. 8 meeting; councilors asked staff to return with the finalized base‑bid figure and recommended contract documents for formal award.
