The Worthington City Council on Monday opted to reject the lone bid received on a planned Center for Active Living improvement project.
The only bid received for planned work came from Tri-State General Contracting in the amount of $376,923 for the base bid and an additional $65,233 for meeting room additions. Short Elliot Hendrickson Inc., the city's architects on the project, estimated the probable base bid to be at $258,850, meaning that the sole bid received was approximately 40% over the city's estimated cost.
Due to it being an insurance claim, city staff along with adjusters from the League of Minnesota Cities reviewed the bids and recommended that council members reject Tri-State's bid and rebid the project. It's hoped that with some changes to the bid process, more bidders will come forward with better results.
In a separate business matter Monday, the council approved a resolution for the city to call for the sale of two general obligation bonds to reimburse the city for certain expenditures from the proceeds of bonds. The Sales Tax Bonds are for financing various sales tax project in the estimated amount of $5,140,000, and the Improvement Bonds are for financing street improvements in the estimated amount of $4,090,000.
Council members also approved Pat Shorter as the fire chief once again. Shorter has served on the Worthington Fire Department for more than 20 years. Additionally, the council approved new sanitary sewer user agreements between the city of Worthington and Tru Shine Truck Wash as well as the city and D&H Transportation Services.
