Construction bid for the new pool stuns crowd
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Bids are lower than expected, making new pool closer to reality
After Michael Fisher, P.E. with Waters Edge Aquatic Design opened and read the bids on Tuesday, March 19, questions lingered as those assembled in the city council chambers digested the details.
Three bids were expected, however, one of the companies who had expressed interest in submitting a bid was not able to meet the bid deadline. They contacted the City of Mount Ayr on March 19 to let them know they would not be submitting a bid.
The first bid, submitted by Christiansen Construction Company out of Pender, NE, was roughly 22% higher than the engineer’s estimate (see table 1).
A second bid, received from Carrothers Construction Company, LLC from Paola, KS, sounded too good to be true, with those in attendance questioning the validity of the numbers (see table 1).
“Can I ask you to repeat alternate number 4,” requested Brent Wise, after hearing the bid totals.
“It’s $13,000,” stated Fisher, “that is for the zero depth entry.”
“So what was our original estimate,” asked Lywanda Case.
“I had a base bid of $3.1 [million] and I had alternates at about $640,000,” stated Fisher.
“So Carrothers comes up to $3,035,000, with everything, is that right,” Case asked.
Even the project engineer was in disbelief that one bid came in lower than expected.
“Yeah, so they’re both higher, overall,” responded Fisher.
“No,” stated Wise.
“No, if you had $3.1 and then $640,000,” Case responded.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Fisher stated as he realized his mistake and the room relaxed into celebratory laughter.
“Ok, so we’re under what you originally projected,” Case confirmed.
“Oh, yeah,” stated Fisher.
“You got enough money to do the whole thing,” exclaimed Brent Wise, “as long as the grant from up above goes through.”
The second bid, received from Carrothers Construction Company, LLC from Paola, KS, was approximately 19% below the engineer’s estimated cost, and could provide an opportunity to add all five extra features to the project (numbered in table 1).
A special meeting of the Mount Ayr city council was then held on Thursday, March 21, at 3:45 p.m. to review the construction bids.
The council considered both bids to construct the new pool and five extra features including another diving stand, an open flume water slide, a family slide, zero depth entry, and overhead lighting.
Before awarding the contract to Carrothers Construction Co., the council also reviewed a current budget statement showing total project costs estimated at $3,180,248.52, total revenue of $2,862,656 as of March 21, and a deficit of $317,592.52, prior to holding their final fundraising event on March 23 and making a final request for CAT grant funds on April 4.
On March 22, an inquiry was made about adding sun shades around the pool deck. The city requested an approximate cost from Waters Edge Aquatic Design. The engineering firm noted the city could expect a cost of $12,300 per sun shade. Four sun shades, totaling $49,200, was then added to the project budget prepared for the CAT review committee.
Private donations to the pool project then jumped up significantly on Saturday, March 23, after a free-will donation supper and live auction was held at the Mount Ayr American Legion.
After nearly 20 years of discussions, planning and fundraising, the aquatic center committee was eager to kick off their final event.
“We are here today to finalize funds for phase II, and to get all the desired amenities [funded],” Case announced, “don’t be bashful, let’s dive in.”
A crowd of over 230 supporters raised more than $30,000 in a single evening, with more donations still trickling in.
Fully funding the project now comes down to one last grant request to close the gap of approximately $333,775 (after adding 4 sun shades and subtracting the March 23 fundraising total).
The City of Mount Ayr sent their current budget statement for the project to the CAT grant review committee on Monday, March 25, and will make their final presentation for the new aquatic center at Judge Lewis Park on April 4.
The demolition of the old pool is expected to start as early as next month and the project may possibly be completed by the end of this year.
Jaixen Frost holds his autographed University of Iowa jersey while Kelly James (left), Klayton Yoder (right) and Curt Pierschbacher (far right) conduct the live auction to help raise money for the construction of the new pool at Judge Lewis Park. The jersey added $2,400 to the donation total on March 23. A total of over $30,000 was raised during the event.
