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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />City Council Minutes <br />October 16,2006 <br /> <br />Page 5 <br /> <br />7.1.C. ECONAR Discussion <br /> <br />7.1.B. <br /> <br />Parks and Recreation Director Bill Maertz indicated that Mohammed Lawal from KKE <br />Architects and Chris Nelson from KFI Mechanical Engineering were present to discuss the <br />possible ECONAR donation. Mr. Lawal reviewed the bidding process. Mr. Nelson <br />explained that KFI was not contacted by ECONAR prior to the bidding process therefore <br />they were not included as a potential manufacturer. Mr. Nelson stated that KFI has reviewed <br />ECONAR's product and it appears that the product will meet technical requirements for the <br />library. He noted that due to the fact that the mechanical room was designed for a different <br />system, portions of the piping and equipment access will need to be redesigned. <br /> <br />Discussion on rebidding the mechanical portion of the project took place. City Attorney <br />Peter Beck explained that rebidding a section is not allowable because the city asked for a <br />total bid package rather than bids on each section and the bids must be accepted or rejected <br />as a whole. Mr. Beck also explained that the best option would be to award the bid to the <br />lowest responsible bidder and negotiate a change order for the mechanical work. He noted <br />that another option would be to reject all bids and rebid the project. <br /> <br />The Council reviewed ECONAR's conditions of acceptance. Issues were raised regarding <br />some of the conditions due to the fact that ECONAR cannot receive preferential treatment. <br />Mr. Beck indicated that ECONAR has to be provided with the same access as the public to <br />the library and cannot have anything displayed in the library that the normal public does not. <br />The Council suggested changes to some of the conditions and would like staff to revise the <br />conditions and bring back to Council when the architects have negotiated a proposed <br />change order with ECONAR. <br /> <br />Bid Results <br /> <br />Mr. Maertz presented the bid results. He stated that the low bidder was Merrimac <br />Construction Company out of East Bethel, MN. He explained that the bid amount was <br />$3,937,155 which is over budget. Mr. Maertz reviewed some budget modifications that have <br />been made and indicated that the new differential of the project is $337,711, which is 10% <br />over the original budget amount. <br /> <br />Councilmember Dietz indicated that he believes the project estimate may have been low and <br />since the fifteen bids that were received were all pretty close, it is probably a better reflection <br />of the cost to construct the library. The Council concurred. <br /> <br />Mayor Klinzing questioned if staff has looked into using landfill abatement funds for <br />portions of this project. Mr. Maertz indicated that they have and that many items will qualify <br />for landfill abatement fund use but that specifics will be discussed later in the project. Ms. <br />Johnson noted that the original bond estimate for the library was $5 million so the amount <br />over the original estimate can be fmanced through bonds as needed. <br /> <br />Councilmember Dietz noted that $60,000 was included in the budget for demolition of the <br />house located at 1217 5th Street and parking lot expansion and now that the demolition of <br />that property is not necessary, that money can be applied towards the library project. <br /> <br />MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER DIETZ AND SECONDED BY <br />COUNCILMEMBER FARBER TO AWARD THE CONTRACT FOR THE <br />LIBRARY CONSTRUCTION TO MERRIMAC CONSTRUCTION COMPANY <br />