Council reviews Phase Six street bids; award to be contingent on county approval

A city administrator reported the city received five bids for the Phase Six street project (Fifth Avenue and First Street) and recommended the council accept the bids and award the contract contingent on county approval. “We took bids for the Phase Six project…they came in a little under the engineer’s estimate,” the administrator said.

The administrator said the low bid was about $2.131 million and that other offers were close (about $2.32 million, $2.43 million and so on). Staff said the engineer’s estimate and the city’s planning range were roughly $2.5–$2.6 million, so the bids were within expectations but still allow for anticipated engineering costs and change orders.

Council members asked for and received confirmation that five bids were received and were tightly clustered. Staff also noted a separate public‑utilities bid package — to repair a sagging sewer line — would open the next day; that project would be managed through the Public Utilities process and could run concurrently with the Phase Six work.

Because of the funding structure, the administrator told the council that St. Louis County must act as the contract holder; the county will consider awarding the contract at its next board meeting in late February or at the first March meeting. The administrator said: “the county’s actually the contract holder on this, not the city…what the council just needs to do is basically accept it and award it contingent upon the county doing all of that.”

No formal outcome on contract award appears in the meeting transcript. Staff said they would return with the necessary documents and that the city would not sign the contract this time; the county would. The council did not take a separate recorded vote on the project during the portions of the meeting captured here.

Next steps: county board consideration (expected at its next meeting), followed by return to the city for any contingent actions required by council.