Oskaloosa City Council Rejects Fire Station Bids
Oskaloosa City Hall
Oskaloosa, Iowa – On Tuesday night, the Oskaloosa City Council rejected all bids received for work on the addition and renovation of the Oskaloosa Fire Department Station 1.
The bid opening for the city’s fire station remodel and expansion project was held on September 1, 2015 at 2:00 PM. The city received four bids, all of which exceeded the estimated project cost. Staff recommends a rejection of the bids due to funding constraints and a rebid occur later this winter.
Bond funding available for the construction portion of the project was budgeted in the amount of $2,979,021 in FY2016. All bids received at this time exceed current estimated costs as presented by the city’s architect as well as current approved budgeted amounts by the city council.
The council wanted to know why the bids came in at nearly 40% higher than expected, and would cost near an additional 1 million dollars to complete.
A representative from Rohrbach Associates, the city architect for the project, explained that past estimates for similar projects and historical bidding data was used for the initial cost for the project that was presented to council. When questioned by Oskaloosa City Council member Jason Van Zetten, the representative said that there must be an error in the way the firm came to their conclusion.
For now, the city will have to reevaluate the project, and decide on what measures of the project may hit the chopping block in order to come in on budget.
The council also approved:
- a resolution approving the plans, specifications, form of contract, and estimated cost for the 2015 Sanitary and Storm Sewer Improvements Project.
- a resolution approving the plans, specifications, form of contract, and estimated cost for the B Avenue East Pavement Rehabilitation Project.
- a resolution awarding a contract for the B Avenue East Pavement Rehabilitation Project to TK Concrete Inc.
- a resolution supporting Mahaska County’s consideration of creating a County Administrator position.
- a resolution directing the Mayor to negotiate and execute a 28E Agreement between the city of Oskaloosa, Iowa and the city of University Park, Iowa.
