Agenda - Council - 03/23/2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

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CASE # CONSIDER CONTRACT OPTIONS FOR EAST MEANDERING COMMONS PARK By: Tim Himmer, City Engineer Background: The construction of East Meandering Commons Park, located in Ramsey Town Center is currently out for bid. The bid opening will take on Friday, March 26 with an anticipated contract award date of March 30, 2010. A portion of this project (see attached) must be completed by the end of June so the City can take advantage of a Livable Communities grant from the Metropolitan Council. If these components of the park are not completed on time the City stands to lose $364,000 in funding for this project. Observations: As an incentive to the contractor staff is proposing to offer a bonus for completion of this project on schedule. At it currently stands staff has built in 2 weeks on the tail end of the contract to ensure completion, but the liquidated damages for not fulfilling the contract timeline would only amount to approximately $30,000. To make certain that this project is completed on time and the grant dollars are not lost staff would like to offer an incentive in the amount of approximately 2% of the work associated with the grant eligible items; estimated at $10,000. This incentive would give the contractor flexibility in scheduling their work crews to potentially cover overtime and weekend work. Also, due to the tight timeline for completion of the grant eligible items there has been concern expressed relative to the manufacturing and assembly of the steel pedestrian bridges and railings. Staff is considering pre- ordering this material so we can ensure that the material is available and can be fabricated for delivery to the site and installed within the project timeline. The 28' pedestrian bridge at the west end of the park is included in the grant eligible items and it is estimated that the steel for that structure would cost approximately $25,000 - $30,000. Staff will continuing investigating this concern and will provide additional information at the Council meeting for consideration. Finally, due of the magnitude of this project and the strict performance requirements of the contract staff recommends that the City Council include a contingency in the project budget and /or allow the Public Works Director to approve change orders up to a maximum of $15,000. Funding: Financing for this project to date has been from the park payment obligations that were collected as part of the original RTC park agreement. Additional funding sources that could be utilized to supplement the grant money include additional RTC park payment obligations, trail fund, storm water utility, and park dedication money. A more detailed budget and accounting will be determined when bid are received and presented to Council. Recommendation: Staff recommends approval of the proposed contractor incentive in the amount of $10,000 for completion of the grant eligible items of the project, and providing a contract contingency so the Public Works Director can approve change orders up to $15,000 without Council authorization.