Boyne City marina bids come in about $544,000 over 2023 waterways grant; staff proposes value-engineering and funding options

A city consultant told an informal Boyne City commission session that construction bids for a marina upgrade exceeded the 2023 waterways grant allocation by roughly $544,000, and recommended several paths forward including a value‑engineered first phase, further negotiations with bidders, rebidding, or seeking additional grant funds.

Mike Grill, the consultant presenting the bid tabulation, said the city advertised the project in June, held a pre-bid meeting July 11 and opened bids July 23. He reported the apparent low bidder for the land-side contract was Molan Excavating (base bid about $1,165,000) and Team Elmer's submitted a higher land-side bid. The floating/marina contract received one bid from Flotation Docking Systems at about $683,000. "When we compare that back to the original 2023 grant total for construction we're over by about $544,000," Grill said.

Grill summarized four options: pursue leftover waterways grant funds (unlikely and competitive), rebid the land-side package (timing risk and unlikely to lower bids), negotiate voluntary scope reductions with the low bidder (produced only limited savings in this case), or reduce construction scope and phase the project so the core elements — notably getting D dock functional with utilities — are completed first.

He said Molan provided a value‑engineered (VE) spreadsheet that could lower the land-side contract to about $663,000 while holding many original unit prices; combined with the floating contract that would total roughly $1.346 million, about $41,000 above the grant construction line item. "Their value engineered plan gets down to 663 th000," Grill said of Molan's submission.

Grill walked commissioners and members of the public through a plan map showing which electrical and water feeds would be deferred to a later phase, and explained the team’s intent to install conduit and other infrastructure now so later wiring would be simpler. He cautioned that some permit items were time-sensitive: one state permit identified in the transcript had expired in May 2024 and a Army Corps permit expires at year-end; a new joint permit application was submitted April 30 and a public notice posted Aug. 7.

Public questioners pressed on risks from the reduced scope: would D dock be fully served, and could C or A docks lose power if the site feed is reconfigured? Grill said D dock would have potable water and a fully functional electric system under the reduced scope, and that the plan would provide a new consumer feed to the marina building while aiming not to disrupt existing AB and C dock service. "D do would be fully served," he said, while adding that permit approvals and electrical inspections would be part of any construction start.

Commissioners and staff discussed funding options including asking the waterways program to accept a scope reduction, seeking replacement grant funds in the next cycle (applications due April 1), asking the low bidder for further price adjustments, and examining whether marina enterprise fund revenues could cover part of a shortfall. Staff committed to sending a detailed VE itemization and memo to the full commission before the scheduled Aug. 27 meeting so the commission could consider a conditional award or other direction.

No formal award or motion occurred because the session lacked a quorum; any contract award would require a future formal vote.