Architect fired; Mozingo center project to proceed

TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Members of the Maryville City Council, along with senior municipal staff, toured the city’s water treatment plant Monday prior to the governing board’s regular twice-monthly meeting. Here, PeopleService Inc. Regional Manager Steve Guthrie, gesturing at left, speaks to the group atop a catwalk. Guthrie, whose company operates both the water plant and Maryville’s sewage treatment facility, said the operation is capable of treating 5 million gallons of water from Mozingo Lake each day, more than enough to meet the city’s average daily consumption of around 1.7 million gallons.

As expected this week, the Maryville City Council terminated its contract with Wertzberger Architects of Marshalltown, Iowa, the firm it hired last year to design a proposed $4 million conference center at Mozingo Lake Recreation Park.

Wertzberger was taken on board in large measure because of its work on a similar facility in Denison, Iowa, where it also designed a hotel developed by Boulders Inn & Suites, the same company currently backing a 40-unit lodge project at the city-owned park and golf complex.

“They (Wertzberger) submitted a very strong proposal,” City Manager Greg McDanel told the council Monday, before going on to explain why the arrangement failed to work out almost from the beginning.

“Numerous communication challenges with the firm have led to months of delay and confusion for contractors,” McDanel said. “Six addendums of clarifications were released during the bid process, including one within 24 hours from the bid opening. Contractors and subcontractors cited confusion on materials and construction methods throughout the bid process.”

One result of the series of miscues was that a bid package that was supposed to go out to potential contractors in June so construction could start early this fall didn’t make it through the door until September.

Only two bids were submitted in time for the delayed bid opening on Oct. 20, with E.L. Crawford Construction of St. Joseph submitting the apparent low offer of $5.7 million — $1.3 million more than what the city wants to spend.

The bid also includes a couple of alternate estimates for geothermal heating and a paved parking lot that total $375,000 and $265,000 respectively. Alternate in this case means extra features the city would like to include at the center if it can afford them.

While the architect has been fired, McDanel said Tuesday he expects the city to accept the Crawford bid and proceed with construction.

That means municipal officials and Crawford representatives will likely get together and start looking for ways to “value engineer” the conference center by incorporating less expensive materials and more efficient construction processes.

Rather than change its bid directly, McDanel said, Crawford will likely refigure its costs at the conclusion of the value-engineering process then submit a change order realigning the construction contract with the city’s budget.

A similar adjustment took place when the low bid came in about $1 million over estimates at the beginning of the Fourth Street pedestrian corridor project in 2014.

Under the now-void contract with Wertzberger, the city had agreed to pay the architect a little over $220,000 to design the conference center, an amount that was to be divided equally across four phases: schematic design, design development, construction documents and bidding, and actual construction.

Only the fourth phase is incomplete, meaning about $55,000 remains in funds budgeted for architectural design services.

McDanel said any such services needed to complete the conference center will be sought from another firm and paid for on a per-hour basis. He said it is unlikely the city will procure such work through a competitive bid process.

For one thing, McDanel said, Crawford has significant design resources in house that the city can take advantage of. In addition, much of the required construction oversight — a chore often handled by an architect — is to be conducted by building code and inspection personnel within the Maryville Department of Public Works.

“Our staff remains very optimistic about this project,” McDanel said, adding that he is confident the conference center can be completed within the current fiscal framework.

City Hall began moving forward on the conference center project after voters approved a one-eighth-cent sales tax in April to pay for it. The proposal passed by a razor-thin five-vote majority.

Some of the earthwork for the project has been completed, and construction is projected to last about 10 months.

The hotel is being built with private funds put up by both Boulders Inn & Suites and a local investment group, and, aside from public real estate and some water/sewer infrastructure, involves no taxpayer dollars.

Both facilities are sited east of the current golf course clubhouse, which is to be torn down.

Completion of both facilities has long been a top priority for the council, and city officials believe the complex could attract as many as 250 events a year, drawing more than 20,000 people.

As now designed, the center is to be built split-level into the side of a hill and offer two stories of amenities, including 5,500 square-feet of modular meeting space for receptions, banquets, and other events attended by up to 500 people.

In other business, the council passed an ordinance executing a “break in limited access license” with the Missouri Department of Transportation that will facilitate construction of a southbound “slip ramp” from 285th Street just southeast of the Kawasaki Motors plant onto Highway 71.

According to McDanel, Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing Inc. has agreed to completely fund the ramp as part of a project to reroute truck traffic entering the factory grounds away from the employee parking area and main entrance.

McDanel said the proposal has no immediate fiscal impact on the city, but that Maryville will accept ownership of three acres or right-of-way wedged between 285th Street and South Main (Highway 71), along with maintenance responsibility for a currently graveled portion of 285th Street that is to be paved with concrete in accordance with municipal and MoDOT specifications.