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.