JACKSON HOLE, WYO – Parks and Recreation director Steve Ashworth is still peddling his department’s future vision for a combination maintenance facility/housing project on Snow King Ave.
After returning to the drawing board last year when initial bids for the project came in about $4M over projections for an estimated 7.5 million dollar job, Ashworth said he felt better about where Parks and Rec was at now.
The department brought forth its award of bid recommendation to Monday afternoon’s JIM (Joint Information Meeting) on a new, scaled back maintenance facility/housing project. Parks and Rec opted for low bidder Record Steel and Construction, Inc. dba RSCI.
RSCI’s bid came in at $323 a square foot for a total of $7,885,000, compared to Big D Construction’s bid at $446/sf for a total of $10,859,000. They were the only two firms interested in bidding after P&R courted some 31 contractors.
After the rebid, Ashworth estimated the project will now include:
- Park administration, equipment storage and all associated site infrastructure – $2,972,540
- Housing (9 1-BR units up from 8 previously, and 17 studios, units up from 13 in the original plans) – $3,831,460
- Maintenance Wing 3 (material storage/workshop, $227/SF) – $440,380
- Maintenance Wing 4 (mechanics bays/chemical storage, $227/SF) – $545,620
- Unprogrammed Basement (4,311 SF, $144/SF) – $622,000
Funding for the project is to be a combination of general fund and SPET money. The voters approved $2.9M in 2017 through a specific purpose excise tax for the development the housing portion.
Ashworth said leaner building methods and cheaper materials helped bring the news bids down some.
“We did everything we could do to get the best value. But we only got two bids,” Ashworth told the joint board. “The one (high) bid kind of shook me a little when we opened it, to be honest. The other from RSCI is reasonable in my opinion.”
The town and county are already into the project for some $880,000, spent on design and pre-build sewer infrastructure.
Up for debate was whether electeds wanted to go for the entire project or ease along on a building by building phasing concept. Most agreed the housing element was necessary and with that a basement. Disagreement came as officials looked at Wings 3 and 4.
Town manager Bob McLaurin worried about the town’s budget, saying his preference was stick with just Wings 1&2 for now.
“I know that doesn’t get Steve where he needs to go. But I would rather date a little longer before we cohabitate,” McLaurin said.
Most electeds agreed Wing 4 would just not be affordable right now but perhaps in the future. The town council voted unanimously to move forward with just Buildings 1&2, including a basement. County commissioners put off deciding until their comprehensive capital projects discussion scheduled for Tuesday morning.
Base Bid C?The project includes 17 Studio apartments; 9 one?bedroom apartments; 1,190 SF park maintenance division offices/administration; 4,311 SF park maintenance equipment storage; 4,311SF unfinished/unprogrammed basement. Note: Base Bid C does not include the maintenance wings 3 and 4.
Parks and Rec needs an answer by June 6 in order to contract with RSCI and begin construction in July.
