Swimming-pool contract exceeds budgeted cost
In spite of exceeding the allotted $6.67 million budget for the project, City Council dove into Doris Roznovak Aquatic Center with both feet Thursday, awarding a construction contract to sole bidder G. Creek Construction.
“It seemed like we had good interest, a lot of people looking at it, but we only got the one bid,” said Philip Cowles with C.T. Brannon Corp., the city’s aquaticconsulting firm. “The project is big enough that a pool contractor would not take it on themselves, there’s site work and building work, so they need a general contractor and what we were hearing was we weren’t getting the interest from them.” The aquatics center is expected to open for the 2026 season, leaving the city without a municipal pool in 2025.
“We knew in May, we knew prior to that, by delaying it, we were possibly going to lose the swim season. That’s not top-secret information,” Mayor Dwayne Ariola said. “It’s not the size we all wanted; it doesn’t have everything we wanted. But it’s going to be a pool I think we can live with in the future, and as we continue to grow, we’ll look at Robinson Park and other areas (for additional pools).”
Mayor Pro Tem Kelly Cmerek expressed frustration at having received only one bid for the aquatic-center initiative, especially given the cost increase.
“We approved $6.8 million. It was my expectation we would have a closer budget,” he said. “When you blow the budget by 26%, and then I hear we only had one bidder, that’s red flags all over.”
G. Creek Construction originally submitted a bid of $8,458,771.50. Cowles said the company worked with city staff and negotiated the cost down to $7,880,583.50 before Thursday’s council session.
Cowles attributed the high price in part to cost increases due to timing of the bid and the current volatility in the aquatics market, as well as the fact they only received one interested bidder.
He added waiting later and going out to bid again likely would result in even higher costs.
City leaders considered cutting amenities, such as pool-deck coating and concessionstand renovation, to lower the project cost, but ultimately, they approved the contract as is.
Officials said $5,047,846 of the funding will come from certificates of obligation issued in 2022 in anticipation of the pool renovation. An additional $1,832,732 will come from 2024 certificates of obligation, earmarked for the Parks Department.
Another $1 million is expected to come from 2025 general-fund revenue allocated for parks projects. That will leave about $1.3 million in the general fund for other parks improvements.
“It does hurt that a lot of other projects, which are all important, get pushed down the road, but I look at it that we’re going to do something right, finish it and then move on to the next thing,” said Tyler Bybee, parks director.
Bybee said the Parks Advisory Board will reprioritize the list of other identified park improvements in light of the new budget constraints and will present the list to the council for approval.
Elected officials approved a $109,188 contract with Raba Kistner Consultants Inc. for construction materials, engineering and testing in conjunction with the aquatic-center renovation.
In other action, the council amended the current contract with HDR to include project management during the aquatic center’s construction phase. Officials will monitor the construction process to minimize errors and facilitate communication between all parties.
The contract amendment would amount to an additional $67,925 paid from 2022 certificate of obligation funds.
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It was my expectation we would have a closer budget.”
—Mayor Pro Tem Kelly Cmerek
