The Finance Committee met 07/22/2024. Outside of the resolution requiring a 2/3rd majority of Council to make changes to the Wheel Tax which the committee held until the next committee meeting, the committee took up 6 action items, all of which were approved unanimously by the committee.
I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download:
24-0957 REQUEST TO REIMBURSE RIVERSIDE CEMETERY ASSOCIATION FOR MAINTENANCE OF VETERAN GRAVES – This item was approved unanimously by the committee without any questions or discussion.
24-0958 REQUEST TO REJECT BID FROM NEUMANN POOLS INC. FOR THE MEAD POOL PLASTERING PROJECT – The city had budgeted $350,000 to coat the pool with plaster, but the bid came in at $817,199. Staff recommended rejecting the bid and then reducing the scope of the project before re-bidding next year.
Alderperson Denise Fenton (District 6) asked how the scope could be reduced.
Director of Parks and Recreation Dean Gazza explained that the original budgeted amount had been based on repainting the pool, not replastering the pool. Staff had solicited bids on fully replastering the pool because that lasted longer than merely repainting which would need to be done again in 5 years.
The scope would be reduced by going back to merely repainting rather than replastering. Director Gazza assured the committee that was a “perfectly fine option to do” even though it didn’t last as long as a full replastering.
24-0959 CHANGE ORDER NO. 2 FOR H-23 LIGHTNING DRIVE EXTENSION PHASE 1 FOR ADDED DRAIN TILE AND EARTHWORK IN THE AMOUNT OF $72,830 – This change was prompted by the need to remove unsuitable soil and import additional clay fill which cost $72,830 on top of the original base contract. As a result, the contingency for the project was reduced from $92,934.82 to $20,104.82.
Alderperson Chris Croatt (District 14) noted that that was a significant reduction to the contingency budget and asked if staff felt okay about how the project was going to end up.
Deputy Director of Public Works Pete Neuberger said they were okay with this change and told the committee, “even though the contingency on the stormwater component is being reduced to a very, very low number on this, there was actually significant positive bid variance on this project on the stormwater portion of the budget compared to compared to the budget. So actually, we did save a lot of money with the with the bids that we did get. So yes, the contingency is low, but there’s also significant stormwater funds that are that are unallocated for the 2024 budget.”
24-0960 AWARD THE 2024 POLICE STATION GUN RANGE DOOR PROJECT TO IEI GENERAL CONTRACTOR IN THE AMOUNT OF $44,838 WITH A 10% CONTINGENCY OF $4,484 – The committee approved this item unanimously with no questions or comments.
24-0961 REJECT BASE BID FROM AUGUST WINTER & SONS IN THE AMOUNT OF $2,617,900 FOR THE APPLETON WASTEWATER TRATMENT PLANT PRIMARY CLARIFIER #1 – #4 REHABILITATION PROJECT – The city had budgeted around $1.6 million for the project, but the lowest bid came in at $2,617,900.
Alderperson Fenton asked if they had expanded the project after they budgeted for it.
Director of Utilities Chris Stempa said that they had originally had a high budgeted amount to repair the grouting and the coating. He knew that there was some buffer there that would allow them to add some additional items, so they did add some things. The cured in place pipes for these clarifiers were from the 1930s. Although they were still in good condition, because of how hold they were they did not want to wait until they didn’t work before they replaced them.
Unfortunately, the timing of the bid was not good because warm weather was required for some of the work and it didn’t align well with the contractor’s schedule. Additionally, it was difficult to forecast what the products were going to cost.
As a result, they were going to hold off on the project and rebid at a later date. He told the committee that there was nothing on the project that could not be addressed on an emergency basis if something went bad before the project was completed. Everything was functional even if the equipment did need to be taken care of at some point.
24-0962 CHANGE ORDER #1 TO SABEL MECHANICAL AS PART OF THE AWWTP FINAL CLARIFIER TANK UNDERDRAIN REHABILITATION CONTRACT PROJECT TOTALING $8,837 – Director Stempa told the committee that although the dollar amount was not large, this was a safety feature that should have been original to the project construction back in the 1990s; however, some of these safety devices didn’t exist back then so they were adding it now.
The committee voted unanimously to approve each of the items.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1196034&GUID=9D8AB3B5-8608-48AC-9AC8-0850E73E2551
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