The Council approved the Eastern Hills Trail Stop Park as an FY 22 Capital Improvement Project with a budget of $276,811.  The proposed improvements include a new play structure, swing, shelter, and future parking.   The City held a public hearing on the matter May 24, 2021 and a bid for the Eastern Hills Trail Stop Park project was issued on May 25, 2021.  The bid closed on June 15, 2021 with no bids received.  The project was rebid on June 27, 2021 and closed on July 14, 2021.  The City received two bids with the apparent low bidder being Dostals Construction Co. Inc.

DOSTALS CONSTRUCTION CO. INC - $271, 350.00

MECO – HENNE - $321,677.74

The project budget $276, 811.00.  The initial cost of construction was estimated closer to $184,000.00.  The reassessed cost opinion did increase the construction to $203,000.00.  The non-construction items such as the play structure, swing, shelter and site furnishings, and associated design and engineering costs account for approxaimtely$100,000.00 beyond construction costs.  The total project costs are $371,720.00.  This represents a $94,909.00 delta between the project cost and project budget.

 The cause of this delta is from several factors including the addition of a swing and the associated construction and play surfacing, increase costs in concrete and steel, and some under estimation of projects costs in the initial budget.   In consultation with the Department of Finance, it has been determined the City currently has enough in bond premium to cover the $94,909.00.

Given the cost variance between project budget and project costs, internal discussion were held to determine the appropriate course of action with two options being reviewed.  Each of these option were reviewed in the context of the project being identified as a priority parks project for the City. The first option is to post-pone the project until the spring 2022.  The advantage to this approach is the City may receive lower bids in the spring 2022 in line or closer in line to the budget. In addition, the Council could allocate additional funding to the project as part of Phase II, the parking lot construction in FY 2023, with knowing what potential costs may be.

The disadvantage to this approach are the unknowns of future construction costs and the status of the City budget for FY 2023.   Construction costs may not be lower in the spring of 2022 and the City may not be in a position to cover a variance between the project budget and projects costs in the future, as it can now.

Since this is a priority project and the City has the ability to cover the increase in projects costs to the project, and the unknown in future construction costs it has been determined to move forward with the project and award the project to Dostals Construction Co. Inc.