Bloomington city staff has negotiated a tentative agreement intended to significantly lower the cost of the first phase of construction for downtown's transformation.
The city council is scheduled to vote on the $13.2 million contract on Monday that the city reworked after the only bid came in substantially higher than the city planned to spend on the 300-600 blocks of North Main Street — the first project in the city's Downtown for Everyone initiative.
According to a document to the city council prepared by traffic engineer Phil Allyn, the city worked with Stark Excavating of Bloomington — the sole bidder — to bring down the cost, partially through moving some of the work in-house to crews from the city’s public works and parks and recreation departments.
Stark’s bid in April totaled $18.6 million, close to 40% above the city’s estimate. The city rejected the estimate and rather than rebid the project, the city opted to work directly with Stark on ways to bring down the costs. That work would now include landscaping, removing outdated street furniture and installing new amenities, according to a staff report to the council.
That would reduce the cost by about $700,000.
The city also estimates about $1.7 million in savings by reducing the scope of the project and eliminating some features, such as reduced aesthetic lighting, an electric vehicle charging station, ornamental fencing along the Main Street parking lots, a fiber optic conduit for future private use, and a second water main.
“Staff made targeted reductions to certain project features that do not significantly alter the look, feel, or core infrastructure of the project,” states the memo to the council.
The city also plans to include another piece of the project, filling old vaults beneath the downtown sidewalks, into its current utility maintenance contract with George Gildner, Inc. The city estimates this will save about $800,000.
In April, the city received a $2 million state grant for the streetscape project.
