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Coralville council deadlocks over selection of construction manager for $48M recreation center
Summary
Council debate over reference checks and scoring rules left the Recreation & Aquatic Center without an approved construction manager at-risk after a 2–3 vote. The city previously approved design work but council members warned the selection process could risk litigation.
Coralville’s City Council failed to approve a resolution to select a construction manager at-risk for the planned Recreation and Aquatic Center after a split vote that exposed disagreements over procurement procedure and reference-checks.
Parks & Recreation Director Sherri Proud told the council that a selection committee followed the Iowa Code process (RFQ then RFP) and initially ranked firms differently at separate stages: Mortenson placed first after interviews, Miron topped the list after pricing was opened, and, following reference checks and additional outreach, the committee recommended Russell Construction as the firm offering the best value. Proud said the committee weighed references and project experience, including competition-pool work, before making its recommendation.
Councilmember Royce Peterson argued the city must follow the published scoring order for the process and warned that deviating from the stated procedure could expose Coralville to litigation. "It doesn’t look good to put out in writing that scores will be completed prior to opening the cost proposals and then deviate from that process," Peterson said. City Attorney Kevin Olson told the council that Iowa Code does not define "best value," leaving the determination to the governmental entity.
Miron Construction Senior Vice President Steve Heyne had told the council earlier that Miron submitted the lowest overall cost and disputed what he described as late or unfavorable references. He said Miron remained "generally excited" to participate in the project and emphasized the company’s regional experience.
When a resolution to select the construction manager at-risk was put to a roll call vote, Councilmembers Mike Knudson and Rich Vogelzang voted yes; Councilmembers Hai Huynh, Royce Peterson and Katie Freeman voted no. The resolution failed 2–3.
The council had previously approved concept design services with Neumann Monson Architects for the project in a contract not to exceed $4,650,000 and a geotechnical evaluation with Braun Intertec for $17,971. Parks staff described the construction-manager-at-risk model as permitted under Iowa Code Chapter 26A, allowing an early contractor to provide updated pricing as design progresses.
Sherri Proud said Russell’s pricing submission was based on a $48 million construction estimate, with an illustrative construction fee of about 2% (roughly $960,000), a $65,000 lump-sum pre-construction fee and $1,310,000 of reimbursable construction-phase services — a total example figure the committee used of about $2,335,000 for those fee and reimbursable categories.
The council did not adopt any alternative selection during the meeting. Next procedural steps were not finalized on the record; design work will proceed under the approved Neumann Monson agreement while the city determines how to resolve the procurement impasse.
