04-12-2004 CC MIN - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Minutes Page 4 April 12, 2004 decided to get the masonry work completed by the end of the month and to take possible action against The Saint Paul Companies to recover any city expenses. Councilmember Dietz asked if The Saint Paul Companies had chosen someone that was higher priced than the amount allowed within the bid. Mr. Stutesman stated that when the masonry contractor that was on the site went out of business, everything stopped and Kraus-Anderson needed to keep everything going. Kraus- Anderson went out on their own and solicited three bids and then sent those onto the representative of the bonding company. The bonding company did not select one of these firms and hired a different consulting fm-n to get the project completed. There were approximately 12 other projects around the metro area that also were left uncompleted by this contractor, and that is why the bonding company hired this outside f'u'm to complete the projects. Councilmember Dietz felt that since The Saint Paul Companies is a bonding company it is their obligation to take care of this or to pick up the extra cost. Finance Director LoriJohnson stated that The Saint Paul Company does have the right to choose and our attorney will look at this further. Unfortunately this issue may end up in a lawsuit. Status of Public Safety. gun range. Mr. Stutesman explained that there was an issue of ventilation at the gun range and how to operate the unit from within the room. He stated that he is expecting to get and have installed the inside unit this week. The range itself was ready by the end of January and the ventilation system should be ready in a week's time. Explanation of the City. Hall project dumpster bill. Jim Beckwith explained that when the project was bid there were some allowances for dumpsters but to get the best number and the best prices for the dumpsters these were bid as a separate entity pulling them out from all the subcontractors. The dumpster bill amount is a cumulative total. When going to contract they were working off of preliminary budgets and not comparing line items. I~aus-Anderson got the best price for the city by ordering the dumpsters cumulatively versus each subcontractor including it in their bid with everyone having their own dumpster on site. The amount was based on so much for each dumpster. This is not an unreasonable bill. If each individual subcontractor had a dumpster in their bid, the city would have paid more. Timetable for completion. Mr. Stutesman explained that the overall project was to be completed on May 1 with the Utilities moving into their portion of the building. This date still is the expected timetable. Blacktop is scheduled for May 7 and landscaping and seeding to be completed when sodding takes place. Councilmember Dietz explained that he felt the punch items need to be completed before the final payment is issued. Police Chief Jeff Beahen explained that currently the geo-thermal system in the Public Safety building does not appear to be working efficiently ~vith a recent invoice running over $2,000 a month for the gas bill. He felt the problem was that the system is in coolant mode most of the time and the makeup air unit, which is gas f'zred, is small with the heating open and that has to be resolved. Jim Beckwith stated that it is frustrating for the staff of Kraus-Anderson as well as city staff for these final items to not be handled in a timely manner, and yes, the city does have an avenue by withholding money. Council also has to remember that IQaus-Anderson is the city