Buckley city council awarded responsibility for the construction of the new fire station to Five Rivers Construction Inc., the lowest valid bidder on the project.
Five Rivers bid a total of $3,645,975.30, which included a base bid of$3,287,765.50 plus the cost of five alternative construction options that the city may desire.
Actual lowest bidder PBJ Contracting Inc. withdrew its bid from consideration due to a mathematical error in calculation of Washington state sales tax.
Of the five alternative construction options, three were recommended for inclusion in the council’s bid acceptance. Those included a nearly $38,000 training pad area, $34,146 aluminum clad wood windows in lieu of vinyl windows, and a $77,180.80 fourth apparatus bay to allow room for fire station growth in the future.
Alternates not accepted were a metal roof in lieu of a composition roof, and a complete landscaping for the entire fire station property.
“When we ran the numbers, we found that with proper upkeep, the long term costs of a composition roof would be the same (as a metal roof,” Fire Chief Alan Predmore said.
Korsmo Construction, one of the top four low bidders, reportedly questioned why they weren’t selected, considering that they are a Pierce County business. However, Predmore and the fire station committee could see no reason not to award the project to low bidder Five Rivers.
In other action, the council:
• amended the 2010 budget to account for changes in the fire station construction, fire reserve equipment, tourism, and sewer capital funds.
• amended the municipal building code to be in compliance with the International Building Code.
• adopted 2011 exempt and hourly salary scales.
• amended the holiday hours section of the Personnel Policy and Procedures manual to allow holiday hours accrued in December to be carried over into the new year, up to Jan. 31.
• granted WSDOT a temporary construction easement on planned White River Bridge maintenance in 2011. WSDOT will be reinforcing the footings on the Buckley side of the bridge.
• approved an addendum to the city contract with Edgewood regarding shared use of building inspection services. They extended the contract for another year at no additional wage cost, other than increased health care premiums.
• approved a jail service contract with the city of Covington, guaranteeing 3.5 beds in the Buckley Jail.
• approved an agreement with Calvin Jordan Associates Inc. for professional design services on the Buckley police station remodel, turning the officers room into a 10-bed jail expansion.
• approved a TIB funding agreement, in which TIB will provide the city with $107,723 to overlay River Avenue from Main Street to Park Avenue. The city will provide a local match of $5,670.
• approved a TIB funding agreement, in which TIB will provide the city with a $600,000 small city grant to complete portions of Phase II of the state Route 410, state Route 165, Ryan Road, and 112th Street East intersection project.
• Approved Northwest Cascade to complete work on a Department of Social Health Services screening manhole project. Completion of the project will allow DSHS to hook up to the city wastewater system.
