Chesterton Tribune

 

 

Quotes for cost of boxcar restroom retrofit come in high

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By KEVIN NEVERS

The quotes are in for the retrofit of the boxcar restroom facility in Thomas Centennial Park, and they’re high.

How high?

The lowest of the four bids is not quite 150 percent in excess of the architect’s original estimate of the cost of project.

At a special meeting Monday night, the Chesterton Park Board voted unanimously to take the four quotes under advisement.

The quotes:

Berglund Construction of Chesterton:

* Base quote: $255,752.

* Alternate No. 1 (for stainless steel toilets): $2,370.

* Alternate No. 2 (for anti-graffiti finish): $1,620.

* Alternate No. 3 (for drinking fountain): $5,040.

Larson-Danielson Construction of LaPorte:

* Base quote: $255,916.

* No. 1 $2,290.

* No. 2: $424.

* No. 3 $5,699.

HP Construction of Westville:

* Base quote: $265,986.

* No. 1: $4,650.

* No. 2: no cost.

* No. 3: $5,940.

Gariup Construction Company of Gary:

* Base quote: $269,900.

* No. 1 $3,500.

* No. 2 $3,800.

* No. 3 $5,000.

Architect Robert Nicksic of James F. Giannini & Associates, who designed the retrofit of the boxcar, originally estimated the cost of the buildout at $105,000, well below the $150,000 threshold at which a public works project in Indiana must actually be formally bid out. The Park Board accordingly sought quotes on the project.

Town Engineer Mark O’Dell was unsure after the meeting why the quotes came in high, and why they were so uniform, with the highest quote only about 5 percent higher than the lowest. There was no pre-quote meeting for interested contractors, he noted, and several of them submitted questions about the specifications prior to submitting their quotes.

More Boxcar Restroom News

In related business, Associate Town Attorney Connor Nolan announced that Liberty Township excavator RV Sutton has offered to provide pro bono work for the boxcar restroom project, specifically for the installation of utilities. Members expressed their gratitude to Rudy Sutton and then voted unanimously into a contract with the firm establishing the terms of the pro bono work.

MS4 Coordinator Jennifer Gadzala also reported that, as of Monday, a total of $37,952 has been pledged on the Patronicity crowdfunding platform. Those donations will be applied to the cost of the restroom project, and the first $31,000 of them will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority.

Mark Hopkins, owner of Hopkins Ace Hardware, for his part reported that his store has surpassed the $3,000 mark in its round-up campaign. Those funds will be put in the Patronicity kitty as well. The crowdfunding initiative ends on Friday, April 20. Go to www.Patronicity.com/TCPark_Restroom to donate.

Waskom/Kipper Bids

Meanwhile, the board also opened bids for the Waskom and Kipper parks rehabilitation project. The engineer’s original estimate of the cost of that project: $801,120.

In this case the base bids came in better than ballpark:

* $653,500, Gariup Construction Company of Gary.

* $717,273.14, Gough Inc. of Merrillville.

* $772,827, Berglund Construction of Chesterton.

Members voted unanimously to take the bids under advisement.

This is the second time the project has been bid out. In November the board rejected separate bids for each park’s rehab after they came in significantly higher than the engineer’s original estimate. Staff subsequently revised the specifications to make them cleaner and clearer, the two projects were combined into one, and interested contractors were required to attend a mandatory meeting before submitting their bids.

 

 

Posted 4/17/2018

 
 
 
 

 

 

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