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City staff outlines narrowed Downtown Improvement scope, delays bond timing to firm up costs
Summary
Service Director Matt Hiscock told Council the downtown project has been reduced in scope and a construction-manager-at-risk was engaged for pre-construction work; the city is pushing bond issuance back to obtain firmer GMP estimates while still targeting mid- to late-July mobilization and an October substantial completion date.
Service Director Matt Hiscock briefed the Committee of the Whole on April 7 on changes to the Downtown Improvement Project that shrink scope, refine cost estimates and adjust the issuance timeline.
Hiscock said engineering and department reviews identified duplicative water-line work and other items that could be deferred or folded into future projects. He said the project’s northern limit was rolled back from High and Boyer streets to High and Maple to reduce underground utility and maintenance-of-traffic costs. "We had identified some things within the project that we thought were not needed," Hiscock said.
The city has engaged a construction-manager-at-risk (CMR) for pre-construction services to assist the design team with cost estimating, value engineering and constructability reviews. Hiscock said the work is intended to narrow the variance in pricing and produce a stronger GMP recommendation when the city later requests authorization to enter a construction contract.
Regarding schedule, Hiscock said the administration and its advisors agreed to delay the planned market issuance so that preliminary GMP numbers are based on more-complete plans. He told Council, "we probably would not have shovels in the ground until mid to late July at the earliest mobilization." He also said the city still aims for a roughly October 27 substantial completion date, subject to contract authorization and final plans.
Council members pressed for specifics about what would be retained under the $13.2 million budget and what would be cut. Hiscock said prioritized items—pedestrian bump-outs, tree grates and brick pavers—were requested to remain in the base contract where possible, and that some plaza or other work might be deferred. "The budget project number right then was $13,294,000," Hiscock told the Committee.
The administration will return with more-refined cost estimates and preliminary GMP figures for Council consideration; Hiscock said he anticipated further discussions in June before any final issuance or contract approvals.
The briefing ended with no formal action; Council did not authorize contracts at the April 7 meeting.
