Discussion:
The city's Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) contains the Quarry Lake Outlet Project STORM-20-001. On September 21, 2021, the City Council approved the plans and specifications and authorized bidding of the project.
In accordance with Minnesota Statute Section 471.347 Uniform Municipal Contracting Law, bids were solicited and opened on October 22, 2021. Four bids were received and opened during the public bid opening and Rachel Contracting, LLC, from St Michael, Minnesota, was the apparent low bidder in the amount of $463,975.12 (see the attached resolution for the bid tabulation summary). This bid is 23.4 percent over the engineers estimate of $376,000 that was prepared in September 2021 when the project was authorized for bidding. It should also be noted that the lake outlet portion of the work has increased by approximately 70 percent as compared to the original estimate per the feasibility study that was presented to the city council on June 2, 2020.
Also of note, a fifth bid was submitted by Krueger Excavating, Inc., at 10:03 a.m. on the bid opening date, but bids were to be received no later than 10:00 a.m. Additionally, this bid was sent to an incorrect email address. As a result, the bid was not received on time, and was not opened during the public bid opening.
Based on the higher than expected bid amounts and the low bid exceeding the feasibility study amount by approximately 70 percent, staff recommends rejecting all bids at this time.
After several above average precipitation years, the peak water level of Quarry Lake in 2019 was measured at 723.9 feet. The city pumped the lake level down two feet in 2019, and drought conditions were experienced in both 2020 and 2021 which resulted in the lake level lowering to the current elevation of 720.3 feet. This current lake level is equivalent to the lake levels measured in 2014. Since water levels are lower, this provides additional time to reevaluate options to manage lake levels of Quarry Lake. We do not expect to have issues with flooding that would impact existing city infrastructure for several years, weather dependent. Additionally, the erosion issue areas that were to be addressed as part of this project will be repackaged with other proposed park improvements around Quarry Lake.