Polk City approves plans and awards contract for sump pump collector project despite bid above estimate

The Polk City Council voted to adopt plans for a sump pump collector project and to award the base-bid contract to OnTrack Construction of Nevada, Iowa, after staff reported the Sept. 10 bid letting produced a single apparent bidder.

Staff told the council the bid letting produced one apparent low bidder, OnTrack Construction; the transcript records the apparent low bid as "$389,88" while the engineer's estimate was $290,120. Staff said the higher bid likely reflects the project's uniqueness and the underground utility complexity in older corridors; they recommended awarding the contract so the work could begin before winter and noted staff would pursue value engineering after a contract was in place.

Council members questioned why the city would not perform the work in-house and whether the project should be rebid or staged. Staff responded that public works lacked capacity to undertake a project of this scale in corridors with dense underground utilities, and warned rebidding could result in higher bids or no bids. One council member described the higher bid as "an expensive insurance policy" given the risk of utility strikes and repairs; staff said a single utility strike could absorb several thousand dollars in unforeseen costs.

The council approved a resolution adopting the plans and specifications and then approved a resolution awarding the contract for the base bid to OnTrack Construction. The record shows affirmative roll-call votes on both measures. Staff noted the bid exceeded the city's budget for the project and said storm sewer and road-use funds are expected to offset some of the additional costs.

Because the transcript shows the apparent bid amount in a truncated form ("$389,88"), the reported dollar figure should be treated as unclear from the record; the engineer's estimate of $290,120 is recorded in the packet and was discussed during the hearing.