Maynard Carport Bids $200,000 Over Estimate

Maynard Carport Bids $200,000 Over Estimate

By Ron Cordray
(City Government Reporter)

Bids on the extension of the Maynard Street carport have come in more than $200,000 over engineers’ estimates, City Administrator Guy C. Larcom, Jr. informed the City Council last night.

Reporting on the status of Building Authority projects which includes the carport extension, Larcom said the low bid was submitted by Utley James, Inc., in the amount of $1,764,954. Engineers had estimated the cost at $1,464,376.

Larcom said the Building Authority is considering methods of reducing the cost of the project which will see the carport extended across Maynard to rest atop the new addition to Jacobson’s.

Other bids submitted — there were a total of five — ranged from $1,810,788 to $1,990,686.

The high bids again prompted a discussion by the council, with Mayor Wendell E. Hulcher questioning why engineers’ estimates on major projects always seemed to be considerably lower than the final bid cost.

Larcom commented that he believed there was an “inflationary factor’’ in this area engineers are not able “to pin down.” He said there was a good set of detailed plans drawn up for the carport extension and the bids were still far above estimate.

Fifth Ward Councilman Richard E. Balzhiser said the council has been critical of estimates in the past but that it must realize the local competition isn’t as “we’d like to have it.” He said the engineers are “doing the best job they can but they can’t factor in the construction activity and how hungry the contractors will be.”

Larcom said that after the Building Authority makes reductions in the carport extension, the final price “won’t be too far out of line.”

He added there is one way the city could cut costs on major projects, by going to a contractor and telling him it wants a certain job done at a specified price. Larcom questioned if this would be legal, however, since it would eliminate competitive bidding, and also questioned if the city would obtain the quality facility it wants.

In another matter related to the carport extension, the council approved borrowing $40,500 from the general fund to pay architects O’Dell, Hewlett and Luckenbach, Inc., who had designed the facility. The funds will be paid back to the general fund after the Building Authority sells bonds for the project.

Reviewing Building Authority projects, Larcom noted it has undertaken or is considering seven projects. The projects total $2,931,000 (actual and estimated costs) with annual payments by the city to the Building Authority of $213,250 for lease of the facilities.

Projects include construction of a pro shop at the Municipal Golf Course ($25,000), construction of a Leslie Park Golf Course starting house ($65,000), construction of an airport administration building ($135,000), cost of buildings at the three outdoor swimming pools and ice rinks ($426,000), the Maynard carport extension ($1,100,000), the Washington-Fourth carport ($950,000), and purchase of the former County Road Commission property on Washington Street ($230,000).

Annual lease payments for the golf course facilities and the carports will come from revenues of the two systems, it is hoped a portion of the airport administration building will come from airport revenues, and it is also hoped that revenues from the pools and rinks will pay a portion of the building rentals at these facilities.