Council approves $16.83M GMP for new Fire Station 61; staff outlines plan to bond for roughly $15M

Spanish Fork’s City Council on March 24 authorized a guaranteed maximum price (GMP) agreement with CIR Construction for a new Fire Station 61, approving a construction GMP of $16,832,500 and a total all‑in project estimate of roughly $18.06 million when soft costs and fees are included.

Matt Romero, the city project manager, described months of design and preconstruction work, including constructability reviews and cost refinement with CERT/CIR. Romero told the council the design requires extensive geotechnical mitigation (geo‑piers under the slab) and that the proposed GMP includes contractor contingencies intended to reduce the risk of repeated council approvals for change orders.

"City staff is recommending to the city council that we approve the guaranteed maximum price agreement with CIR Construction for Fire Station 61 at the price of $16,832,500," Romero said.

Romero and Chase Hathaway from CIR described contingency lines in bids and an owner contingency intended to cover unforeseen items early in construction. The team explained geo‑pier work estimates and why an elevated contingency was included for that line item.

Seth (city manager) summarized the anticipated financing approach: the city would front some construction costs from savings if needed, then issue a parameters bond resolution within about a year to refinance and reimburse the savings. Manager Seth said the city expects to need "no more than $15,000,000 in the bond," payable in part with public safety impact fees, capital project funds and potentially some Power & Light funds. He also said impact fees can only be used for the growth‑driven portion of the facility and not the entire cost.

Council members who served on the station committee credited staff and the contractor for cost‑control efforts. Chase Hathaway (CIR) said the contractor expects to mobilize and start work in mid‑April and that some long‑lead items and preconstruction orders (steel) are already staged.

The council moved to approve the GMP and construction contract; the motion carried on a roll call vote with Councilman Euler, Councilman Carden, Councilman Took and Councilwoman Beck voting yes.

Next steps: the city will finalize contract signatures, mobilize preconstruction vendors, and bring a parameters resolution and bond schedule back to council (staff said a parameters resolution would be presented by May to formalize bonding intent). The city will also begin planning disposition or reuse options for the existing Station 61 building once the new station timeline becomes certain.