Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Streets Procurement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Stevens asks whether combining local street projects would lower bids
Summary
Council member Stevens asked whether bundling 40th Street trenching, 900 East reconstruction and overlay work would yield better pricing; city staff explained the three projects have distinct scopes, equipment and risk profiles and therefore have been bid separately.
At the June 3 work session, Council member Stevens asked whether the city could combine several street projects into one contract to get a better price. "If you put them together, do we get a better price or a better bid, than being separate?" Stevens asked.
Public works staff (John) replied that the three jobs are materially different: "On 40th, you're doing a patch, you're just doing a trench... On Ben Logan and Sunset, you're edge milling overlaying, and on 900 you're removing the asphalt, put completely brand new stuff in," he said, explaining how trenching, overlay and full reconstruction require different crews and equipment. Staff said that difference, plus a desire to let a smaller company demonstrate performance without risking a $1.3 million contract, drove the decision to keep bids separate.
The exchange underscored tradeoffs between procurement efficiency and risk management: bundling could reduce mobilization costs in some cases but could exclude smaller bidders or concentrate risk on a single contractor. Stevens and other council members asked staff to confirm sequencing with adjacent projects and contractors so the city avoids early rework when water-line work precedes paving.
Council did not take a formal vote on changing procurement strategy; staff said they would include project sequencing and procurement rationale in upcoming memos and that the 900 East project would be presented for approval on the next agenda.
