Depot Park construction approved despite cost increase

Despite bids that came higher than estimates, City Council Thursday approved awarding a bid for construction at Depot Park set to take place beginning this month.

Council during a special meeting awarded the bid to LHC Construction in the amount of $835,855 for three tasks of work planned for in and around the park this spring and fall. The most recent estimate for the work had been a cost of $790,750, which was already a bump in cost from initial planning figures.

Councilor Frank Sweeney said he had “sticker shock” looking at the bid.

“If we allocate this much more [tax increment finance funds] to this project I want to make sure it’s worth doing,” he said.

Public Works Director Craig Workman said work includes rebuilding the roadways and parking areas on Spokane Avenue, Railway Street and Central Avenue around the park. Work on Railway would change parking adjacent to the park to angle parking, and work on Central would make the section of the street match the southern portions of the main downtown street.

“These are all tasks that are called for in the downtown master plan,” he said.

Work in the park includes turf re-enforcement and soil stabilization in the northeast corner of the park to help it stand up to events held on the grass.

“These plans are part of the design for Depot Park to be more of a center focal point of downtown,” Workman said.

A number of businesses owners last month asked Council to adjust its construction schedule to eliminate work that had been planned during the peak summer season saying it would significantly hurt their operations. Council on April 15 agreed to the change splitting work over two phases and set a special meeting for last week to award the bid so work could begin sooner.

Estimates for the work prior to the schedule change were $715,000 for the work, but with the change the city estimated the cost would automatically increase to $790,750.

Workman said the final bid was 15 percent over estimates, but that only about 5 percent of the increase in cost could be attributed to the schedule change and bidding the project in two pieces.

“The bid came in significantly above the estimate,” Workman said.

Councilor Andy Feury said after hearing the concerns of business owners that the 5 percent increase in cost for the schedule change is worth it.

“Depot Park has languished for funding for many years,” Feury said. “The numbers are higher than we want, but I’m glad we split this into two phases.”

Construction is planned in two phases with the city expecting to go out for bids on the second phase next year. Workman noted that in the second phase of work the city may be able to find some cost savings through eliminating pieces of the project.

Construction on the park and streets surrounding it are expected to take place in May and June and then resume in September and October, and the final task of the project would be completed in May and June of 2020.

The entire project had been originally estimated to cost $1.55 million, however, based upon the current bids for the first phase of work the entire project is now estimated at $1.8 million. The city had set aside just over $1.3 million in the tax increment finance budget to pay for it.

“It’s about $1.8 million worth of work, so it comes at a pretty significant sticker,” Workman said.

Assistant City Manager and Finance Director Dana Smith said that delaying a decision to seek additional bids would not be possible because work must be completed by the time the city’s TIF district sunsets in July 2020. However, she said that there is currently $500,000 in the TIF budget that hasn’t been designated for a specific project that could be redirected to Depot Park.

The construction project is set to be completed with four different tasks.

The first task, set for mid-May to June 30, is work on Railway Street that involves constructing curb and gutters, and creating angled parking abutting the park, along with creating a multi-use trail on the park side of the street that would continue on the north side of the O’Shaughnessy Center and to the viaduct.

The second task involves the intersection of Railway and Spokane and is set for work from mid-September through October. This task includes curb and gutter work and creating pedestrian bulb outs at the corners.

Task three includes improvements on Spokane Avenue just north of the Railway intersection to Depot Street, as well as work on the east side of the park. It includes improvements to the parking on the west side of Spokane and pedestrian bulb outs at the intersection. Utility work for electrical and irrigation will take place in the park, along with turf reinforcement. This task would occur mid-September through October.

Task four involves work on Central Avenue north of Railway and on the northwest part of the park. This task would take place in May and June of 2020, and involves parking improvements along the street as well as a section of a multi-use trail that would follow the edge of the park and around the O’Shaughnessy.