8. CITY COUNCIL AGENDA

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1 Regular 8. CITY COUNCIL AGENDA Meeting Date: 10/06/2014 TITLE: Playground Equipment Installation Contract Amendment - Gary Riedner Responsible Staff: Dwight Curtis Backup Material: Backup material attached Digital Presentation: No Other Resources: Other Non-City Resources: Information DESCRIPTION: On August 18, 2014, the City Council approved the acceptance of a bid from Picture Perfect Playgrounds, Inc., of Ashton, Idaho, for the installation of three small playgrounds. The accepted bid (this was a sole bid) was $29, The work was to be performed this fall. Since acceptance of the bid, the owner of Picture Perfect Playgrounds, Inc. contacted Tom Grundin on (9/17/14) to inform him that they had inadvertently left the cost of the concrete work out of their bid. Staff had originally estimated that the total cost for the installation of the three projects would be $70,000. With the bid so much lower than the staff estimate, Tom Grundin contacted the company at that time to confirm that the bid was correct and they confirmed that it was. Picture Perfect Playgrounds, Inc., has installed playground equipment for the City of Moscow previously and did an excellent job. Their last project with the City was the installation of the playground at Mountain View Park. Staff feels that even with the bid submission mistake, we can still have the installation work completed this fall within budget and at a competitive price. If the City decides to go back out to bid this winter, we ll have no control over potential price increases, and we d be subject to contractor scheduling issues, as our project is relatively small in the playground installation arena. We also have few contractors from which to solicit bids. This would also save the costs associated with the rebidding. Staff has already removed the existing small play area at East City Park, and would prefer to, if possible, not have the area barricaded off for safety reasons throughout the coming winter/spring. As our spring weather conditions are always unpredictable, a spring construction schedule would be possible, but delays due to weather conditions would be expected. This could also be affected by the spring special events such as the Renaissance Fair. The development of Otness Park would be further delayed by waiting until 2015; I know neighbors of the site are anxious to see their new play environment. From Staff s review there appear to be four options for consideration: 1. The City could void the bid (with the consent of the selected bidder) and rebid the project for construction next year. 2. The City could attempt to request the contractor to perform the work for the bid price. Under this option the contractor has indicated that they would not be able to perform the work for the bid price and they would be forced to forfeit their bid bond in the amount of $1,497. The City would then still need to rebid the project, as there were no other bidders, and hope to find another contractor to respond and postpone construction to next year. 3. The City could recognize that the sole bidder made an unintentional material error and negotiate in

2 good faith to establish a fair price for the concrete work to be added to the prior bid price to allow the project to proceed to construction this fall. 4. The City and contractor could mutually agree to modify the original scope of work to exclude the concrete placement and pursue the concrete placement through a separate agreement. This was reviewed by the Public Works/Finance Committee on September 22, 2014 and recommended option 3 with a two to one vote with the item to be considered on the regular Council agenda. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Authorize staff to pursue Option #3 to negotiate the price of the concrete work and if a reasonable price is reached, amend the contract with that additional cost, and go forward with the playground installations this fall. ACTION: Authorize staff to pursue Option #3 to negotiate the price of the concrete work and if a reasonable price is reached, amend the contract with that additional cost, and go forward with the playground installations this fall; or take such other action deemed appropriate. NECESSARY RESOURCES/IMPACTS (PERSONNEL): N/A NECESSARY RESOURCES/IMPACTS (OTHER) N/A Attachments Playground Installation Memo-Curtis Playground Installation Memo from Grundin Playground Install COntract CCSR PWF

3 City of Moscow Parks and Recreation Memo To: Gary Riedner, City Supervisor From: Dwight Curtis, Parks & Recreation Director Date: September 18, 2014 Re: Playground Installation Contract Issue On August 18, 2014, the City Council approved the acceptance of a bid from Picture Perfect Playgrounds, Inc., of Ashton, Idaho, for the installation of three small playgrounds. The accepted bid (this was a sole bid) was $29, The work was to be performed this fall. I was informed yesterday that the owner of Picture Perfect Playgrounds, Inc. had contacted Tom Grundin to inform him that they had inadvertently left out the cost of the concrete work in their bid. Staff had originally estimated that the total cost for the installation of the three projects would be $70,000. With the bid so much lower than the staff estimate, Tom Grundin contacted the company at that time to confirm that the bid was correct and they did. Picture Perfect Playgrounds, Inc., has performed playground installation work for us previously and did an excellent job. Their last project with the City was the installation of the playground at Mountain View Park. To deal with this, we have some options: 1) Void this bid and rebid this winter for a spring project; 2) we have the right to only claim the bid bond. The bidder has a defense if the mistake is a mathematical error was material. The City could then award to the next lowest bidder. At this time, there is no one else; 3) this was a material omission; we could try to negotiate a discount on the concrete work. If we can agree on a discount price, then we adjust the current contract adding in the new concrete price; 4) another approach, since they were the only bidders, if their concrete work price is less than $25,000, we could have a new contract signed between us. These playgrounds will replace the tot playgrounds at East City Park and Rotary Park, which are aged, worn, unsafe, warranting replacement. The third tot playground is planned for the new Otness Park. The tot playground in East City Park has already been removed, while we are holding off on the removal of the playground in Rotary Park due to the present situation.

4 CITY OF MOSCOW PARKS & FACILITIES DIVISION MEMORANDUM TO: FROM: RE: Dwight Curtis, Parks & Recreation Director Thomas R. Grundin, Parks & Facilities Manager 2014 Playground Installation Project DATE: September 18, 2014 In regards to the playground installation bid recently received by the City from Picture Perfect Playgrounds, Ashton, Idaho, I offer the following: The project specifications were assembled together by Engineering and me, and once approved for bidding, the bidding process ensued with the opening held on August 5. Picture Perfect submitted their bid of $29, as the lone bidder on the project, which had been discussed with the owner of the firm and myself prior to their submitting their proposal. It was clear in my opinion they understood the scope of the work to be done, including the rubber safety surfacing installation and the concrete underlay, which I confirmed with them the day after the bid opening. The specifications included the documentation and the specifications for both the rubber matting and the underlay. Nowhere in the specs was the call for engineered wood fiber system that we have typically used in the past, most recently at Mountain View park, which is considerably less expensive than a rubber surfacing system. The Mountain View playground was installed in 2012 by Picture Perfect, who again, was the lone bidder on that project also. That project was handled in a competent and professional manner by Picture Perfect, and, they installed playgrounds several other times prior to my arriving in Moscow. Having never installed a rubber surface system here in Moscow, I was unsure as to what level the pricing might come in at for the installations, as public bidding can, at times, leave one wondering as to what bidders might be considering. Funds were budgeted in advance of the project, and after confirming with the company they were satisfied with their submittal, I continued with the administration of the proposal. The owner has since informed me he was out of town on another job site when his company prepared and submitted their bid, and stated his office likely made a mistake as to the concrete portion of the work. He also said the rubber safety tile installation was previously planned to be done by one of his employees who specializes in the work, again, another indicator that a hard surface would be required, and illustrative of their having prior knowledge of this before submitting their proposal.

5 The company owner has informed me they will do any work for the City of Moscow in a professional manner, as he has no interest in not doing a 100% competent job, no matter the situation. He also stated he is willing to work with the City as to any compromise or solution to the issue that might be offered as a means of acknowledging his mistake and rectifying the issue. I feel strongly that even with the bid submission mistake, we can still have the installation work completed this fall within budget and at a competitive price. If the City decides to go back out to bid this winter, we ll have no control over potential price increases, and we d be subject to contractor scheduling issues, as our project is relatively small in the playground installation arena, and we have few contractors from which to solicit bids. We d also save the costs associated with the rebidding. Staff has already removed the existing small play area at East City Park, and I d prefer to not have the area barricaded off for safety reasons throughout the coming winter. As our spring weather conditions are always unpredictable, a spring construction schedule would be possible, but delays due to weather conditions would be expected. The development of Otness Park would be further delayed by waiting until 2015; I know neighbors of the site are anxious to see their new play environment. The Park & Recreation Commission and parks staff have recommended the change to the rubber pad surfacing system for these and all future playground installations, as the rubber tiles reduce our future maintenance costs, and remove the problem of the instability of the wood fiber system as it gets moved around the play areas. It also provides a more pleasant look to the playgrounds. The company owner has mentioned he is retiring sometime this winter, and he may sell or spin off the company to a current employee, which may create further angst regarding the availability of contractors to bid this fall/winter. We can avoid these scenarios by approving the work for this fall under our current budget and timeline; I suggest this would be the most favorable approach to take at this point in time.

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