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Colfax moves to Sourcewell procurement to try to close skate‑park funding gap
Summary
After bids came in higher than budgeted, Colfax City Council directed staff to reject two responsive bids and pursue Sourcewell cooperative procurement to negotiate with pre‑qualified skate‑park contractors, aiming to preserve the project without changing design plans.
Colfax City Council voted to pursue a Sourcewell cooperative procurement to try to close a funding gap on the proposed skate park after two competitive bids exceeded the city’s available budget.
City engineering staff told the council there are five possible next steps — find additional donor grants, rebid the project, reject the existing bids and pursue Sourcewell, negotiate directly with a Sourcewell contractor, or abandon the project. Carl Morris, the city engineer, recommended rejecting the responsive bids and testing the cooperative Sourcewell option to see whether pre‑solicited, nationally solicited pricing could narrow the shortfall without redesigning the plans.
Kenton, a Sourcewell representative, explained the cooperative model: "There is an option to directly negotiate with a qualified skatepark contractor through Sourcewell," he said, adding that Sourcewell maintains a vetted list of contractors and that choosing a contractor from that list does not require changing the project scope or plans. He said the city could negotiate terms within the city’s existing budget and the firm would follow the plans and specifications on file.
Several councilmembers and public commenters urged caution about abandoning the years of volunteer fundraising for the park. Gary Anderson, a resident, told councilors the total estimated cost looked to be near $1,000,000 and urged the council to “think outside the box” for alternatives but recognized safety and monitoring needs for any built facility.
Council direction: staff were instructed to reject the two responsive bids and coordinate pricing with a Sourcewell contractor to try to deliver the approved plans within the city’s budget. No final construction contract was awarded at the meeting; the Sourcewell negotiation was approved as the next procurement step.
Next steps: staff will attempt to negotiate a contract through Sourcewell and return to council with cost details and recommendations before awarding construction work.
