The city approved a contract Monday with over $1 million in reductions to the next step in developing the waterfront.
Originally $2 million over pre-tender estimates, the contract was awarded to Tom Jones Corporation Monday night at $13,962,816 to develop the water garden pavillion. Reductions were found by removing the parks maintenance building and a bird control system and making changes to the refrigeration system, building a metal festival storage instead of a wooden one, and finding different manufacturers for parts of the project. The cost cutting measures add up to $1,023,184 in savings over the original $14,986,000 lowest bid.
Waterfront project manager Katherine Dugmore said cost consultants, architects and the contractor sat down to work out the reductions without compromising the functionality and aesthetics of the project.
"While it may sound like we’re changing a lot of materials really we’re not we’re just looking for better ways to source them," said Dugmore.
But Coun. Rebecca Johnson asked Dugmore whether the city’s overall vision for developing the waterfront could be compromised by making reductions.
"We want a waterfront that we can all be proud of if we start cutting a little bit here and a little bit there is that what we really want," Johnson said. "I’m a little worried where we’re going with this… is our vision going to be what we want it to be or are we addressing a budget?"
Dugmore said the additional $1million can be found by finding savings in the upcoming tenders for the $45.5 million waterfront development. While she said administration does the best they can with pre-tender estimates, the market dictates how much a contract will cost the city.
"I am always concerned when you go to the market that you’re not going to get the estimated prices we do our best to forstall that and prevent it through good design and good cost estimation,"Dugmore said. "So far we’ve been good on four out of five of the tenders that we’ve gone to the market with."
Dugmore told council she would have more information from cost consultants about why the lowest bid came in over $2 million when she provides a waterfront update later this summer.
