Crescent City OKs $5.2 million Front Street Gateway contract, orders irrigation redesign and seeks contingency

Crescent City’s council on Sept. 15 voted unanimously to award the Front Street Gateway Improvements Phase 1C construction contract to Tidewater Contractors and to approve related plans and specifications for work that staff said will reconfigure Front Street, add pedestrian amenities and complete portions of the Tallaha interpretive trail.

City Manager Weir told the council the low bid for the package was ‘‘a little over little under $5,250,000’’ and that the project will be funded through a mix of CDBG, Clean California, Prop 68, per‑capita funds and water and sewer CIP budgets. Director Yeager said the CDBG portion accounts for the largest share and Clean California funds approximately $1.9 million of the contract.

Why it matters: the phase includes street reconfiguration, a bus‑dedicated lane near the library parking lot, pedestrian improvements tied to downtown master‑plan work, and interpretive trail foundations that support a broader park revitalization. Staff presented the funding breakdown and said some gateway elements remain to be designed and bid.

The council also addressed unexpectedly high landscaping and irrigation bids. Staff reported landscaping/irrigation was estimated at about $250,000 but bid above $400,000. ‘‘Part of your action tonight would be to approve a deductive change order,’’ City Manager Weir said, noting the draft deductive amount was about $417,600 to remove the current irrigation design from the contract and return a simplified irrigation package later. Director Yeager told the council that subcontractor confusion on zones and system design contributed to the higher bids and that staff expects a redesigned irrigation package could be developed for roughly $225,000–$250,000.

Council also gave staff consensus to approach the Measure S committee for an additional contingency of roughly $300,000 to bring the contingency closer to 10 percent. ‘‘In a perfect world, we don’t need it, and we can return it all,’’ Weir said, urging prudence on contingencies because of construction risk.

Vote and next steps: the motion to approve the plans/specifications, authorize award and sign the construction contract with Tidewater, delete the current irrigation design and permit aggregate change orders up to $100,000 (no single change order over $75,000) passed unanimously on a roll call vote. Staff will return with the final lease/contract documents, the redesigned irrigation package and any Measure S committee response as those items are developed.

Context: the Front Street work follows prior phases funded partly with federal, state and local grants; staff said some interpretive‑trail elements are already under contract and would be coordinated with the Phase 1C contractor.