Galena board awards final bids for $3.16 million track and field project and OKs scoreboard purchase

Speaker 1, an unidentified district official, told the Galena City School District Board that bids for the final package of the district's track and field project were opened Feb. 12 and recommended several awards and the rejection of two alternates.

"I am recommending that you do not approve that that bid alternate," Speaker 1 said, describing a proposed reduction of a 10-foot walking path to 6 feet that would save about $7,400, and a $15,500 increase to change galvanized fencing to black chain-link that the administration recommended rejecting.

The board voted to approve the set of recommended awards for bid package 3, which staff reported tallied to about $3,158,000 before additional value-engineering. Speaker 1 said staff had already identified deducts and hoped to bring the net cost down to the $3.1 million the board previously approved; he said the current overage is approximately $58,000.

Key awards and amounts approved by roll call included concrete package 003A to Louis Trenching for $243,723.50, general trades to Larson for $293,450, electrical package 026A to Westwall for $200,480, asphalt paving to Helm Civil for $226,800, fencing to Lovewell Fencing for $129,000, and a stone retaining wall to Louis Trenching for $122,720. The board also approved site utilities package 033A to Louis Trenching for $57,765 as the district's share for a water-main relocation; Speaker 1 said the city's share of that relocation is expected to be roughly $160,000.

Speaker 1 noted bid interest was strong, with 10 bidders for package 3 and a number of local firms competing. He said project staff had included a $50,000 contingency for known underground work and did not expect extreme contingencies given prior geothermal drilling and known conditions.

On a related procurement, the board authorized the purchase of a video scoreboard and associated audio systems for the project not to exceed $224,895. Speaker 10 moved the purchase authorization, noting one vendor's final number was pending; Speaker 1 said staff would accept the lowest responsive bid up to the approved cap and could call a special award meeting if necessary.

The board approved the awards and the scoreboard authorization by roll call (items recorded in the agenda as 6.5'6.13). Staff said they will continue working with vendors to value-engineer remaining cost items and report back as needed.

The board's next procedural step is contractor coordination and continued value-engineering discussions; no construction start date was set in the transcript beyond an expected equipment delivery timeline and spring-break work windows.