Paving contractor questions bid process
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Maryville’s City Council this week approved a contract with Jason Brown Roofing for repairs at the city’s water treatment plant. Estimated cost is $26,300. Public Works Director C.E. Goodall said it is important to fix the roof as quickly as possible because rainwater is infiltrating the plant’s computer area.
The Maryville City Council on Monday awarded two contracts for asphalt street overlays scheduled for this summer to Keller Construction Co. of St. Joseph, including an agreement for the repaving of North Main Street from the Highway 71 bypass for a distance of one mile south to 242nd Street.
The highway-like road extends about two miles between 16th Street and the bypass and has become increasingly deteriorated over the last several years.
With most of the remaining anticipated proceeds from Maryville’s half-cent capital improvements sales tax earmarked for debt service related to earlier projects, the council earlier opted to improve the northern half of North Main first — the worst section — and the remaining portion during a subsequent budget year, possibly 2016-2017 if sufficient funds are available.
Both Keller and Herzog Contracting bid on the North Main project, with Keller submitting the low offer at $230,166. Herzog’s bid was $231,485.
Herzog Vice President Kyle Phillips attended Monday’s meeting but was told by Mayor Jason McDowell not to discuss either his company’s bid or details pertaining to specifications since no Keller representative was present.
Phillips was granted the opportunity to comment on the city’s bid process generally, and said he believed municipal staff should be more exact in specifying the amount of milling work and asphalt material required for any given job.
“If you leave it up to the contractors,” he said, “We’re not going to look at that the same way.”
Phillips said that while North Main bids from the two companies were quite close, the second overlay contract, which also went to Keller and included other Maryville streets, showed a much wider disparity because the two firms figured milling and materials costs differently.
City Manager Greg McDanel said he would be happy to work with Herzog in an attempt to improve the way the city prepares bid requests. He noted, however, that at least some of the details Phillips described as lacking came up during a pre-bid meeting that Keller representatives attended and Herzog staffers did not.
Phillips said Herzog missed the meeting due to a scheduling conflict, and that the written bid specifications, in his view, were still insufficient.
“If you want 2,000 tons of asphalt, we can tell you how much 2,000 tons of asphalt cost and give you a good price,” he said. “But (the existing process) is not terribly clear, and because it’s not clear, we can’t give you the best price.”
Public Works Director C.E. Goodall stated prior to this week’s meeting that Herzog had expressed concerns about the process and was told by municipal staff that all measurements and estimates were the responsibility of the bidder.
McDanel said Monday one reason for this is that, unlike some larger cities, Maryville does not have a civil engineer on staff.
Last fall, the council budgeted $330,000 for asphalt milling and overlay work citywide, which after North Main Street leaves just under $100,000 for paving projects in other parts of the city.
Though 11 locations were on the list of proposed overlays contained in the second bid request, municipal staff, due to budget limitations, trimmed that number to the following streets: South Davis, South Saunders, and Galaxie Drive.
Cost of overlaying those three thoroughfares totals $89,000, which McDanel said leaves a little less than $11,000 for subgrade repairs and unforeseen costs.
In other business, the council approved a staff proposal for repairing the Maryville water treatment plant’s leaky roof, which is endangering the facility’s computer area.
A total of $15,000 for roof repairs was included in the current budget, but Goodall said recent heavy rains have exposed additional problems that will require more funds.
Jason Brown Roofing was hired to fix the roof at an estimated cost of $26,300, plus $3.60 per square foot for the repair of any additional issues discovered while work is under way.
To cover the higher price tag, staff is recommending using funds allocated for demolition of the plant’s clear well, a project Goodall said can be put off until next year’s budget cycle.
Other items approved by the council included:
• A $12,600 traffic striping contract awarded to Twin Traffic Marking Corp. for marking West South Avenue.
• The sale of $4.5 million in certificates of participation, a form of municipal debt, that will be used to pay for a new conference center at Mozingo Lake Recreation Park. Blind bids showing financing costs only will be accepted by the city via computer through 11 a.m. Monday, Sept. 26.
After the deadline passes, city representatives will be able to view the names of the bidders and prepare a recommendation for the council.
• A lot split of a 2.62-acre parcel in South Hills Estates along Chamee Drive requested by Mark and Marla Burnsides. According to a staff report, the split will create two buildable lots of 1.68 and .94 acres zoned large-lot residential. Goodall said he understood the Burnsideses have a potential buyer interested in purchasing the smaller parcel.
• A leasehold mortgage deed of trust agreement with Boulders Inn Maryville in the amount of $2.1 million in connection with a $3.2 million privately developed hotel to be built at Mozingo Lake Recreation Park. The deed, which takes the place of a lien when property is leased rather than sold, is being requested by Wells Bank, the project’s financing agent.
McDanel said the city is leasing the hotel site to Boulders Inn Maryville and co-investor Boulders Inn & Suites of Denison, Iowa, which is providing the balance of the capital, for a dollar a year for 99 years.
On other fronts, McDanel said a crew from Maguire Iron is continuing to paint the interior of the city’s main water tower at the west terminus of Edwards Street. Work is expected to be complete in about 10 days, after which the paint must cure for a week before the million-gallon tower is refilled.
Elsewhere, McDanel said bids will be accepted for the 860-foot “Spoofhound Trail” paved walking path extension between the east side of the Maryville High School campus and South Munn Avenue until 10 a.m. Tuesday, July 19, with construction scheduled to begin shortly thereafter.
