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County seeks to salvage landfill expansion after single high bid; value-engineering trims $11M
Summary
Pitkin County officials said the solid waste center expansion received a single prime bid above the engineer's estimate; after value engineering — including removing one nonessential building and re-scoping solar and subcontractor items — estimated costs fell from ~$39–40M toward about $28M for essential facilities, with further pricing and schedule steps planned this summer.
Pitkin County public works officials told the Board of County Commissioners that the county’s landfill expansion solicitation produced a single prime bid that exceeded internal estimates, prompting a value-engineering effort to preserve core operations while reducing capital cost.
Public works director Brian Pedram said the solicitation closed with one bidder, FCI, whose proposal came in a little over $40 million compared with the project engineer’s estimate of about $31 million. The team immediately began value-engineering discussions with the prime contractor to bring the project into a viable budget range.
Tyler Carbel, the county’s solid-waste manager, described targeted reductions that would preserve essential capacity while trimming expensive discretionary elements. The largest single cut was removal of the planned standalone Mercantile building — the county will retain the Mercantile program by consolidating activities into a covered hub and roll-off configuration rather than building a new structure. Other reductions included eliminating a noncritical wash-bay add-on, resizing rooftop solar installations to an admin-building-first approach, reissuing some subcontractor scopes to seek more competitive pricing, and identifying noncritical equipment substitutions.
Carbel said the combined adjustments reduced the estimated project cost by about $11 million, bringing the core project into the high-$20 million range for the three buildings judged necessary for operations. He cautioned that the final number depends on upcoming subcontractor pricing and that the county expects to post a revised subcontractor bid package in June, with a target of returning to the board in September with final pricing and a recommended contract award.
Commissioners pressed staff on program continuity, public access and wildlife protection. Staff said the Mercantile program would continue in a different, smaller footprint that may include covered areas, roll-offs and expanded reuse/recycling offerings (textiles, books, plastic film). On the question of bear-proofing, commissioners discussed the potential cost of a full electric fence (staff estimated construction and operating cost could be high) and recommended further coordination with Colorado Parks and Wildlife on technical feasibility and long-term operations.
Pedram and Carbel said schedule and procurement steps will aim to optimize market timing: reissued subcontractor packages (target June 1), award decisions after updated bids (target September), and site civil work and vertical construction beginning in late fall or the following spring depending on weather and bid outcomes. The board thanked staff and requested the Mercantile reinvention plan and final subcontractor pricing when available.
No formal action or vote occurred during the work session; staff will return with detailed cost, scope and phasing recommendations for the board’s consideration.
