Item 5B. Rejection of Bids and Authorization to Re-bid: Sochacki Park Water Quality Improvement Project
Superintendent's Recommendation:
MOTION TO REJECT ALL BIDS FOR THE SOCHACKI PARK WATER QUALITY IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT; AND TO AUTHORIZE STAFF TO RE-BID THE PROJECT AT A LATER DATE.
Prepared By: Jami Markle, Director of Natural Resources
Background:
With final design for the Sochacki Park water quality improvement project completed in September 2026, Three Rivers is now leading the bidding and construction phase of the project with Barr Engineering. A formal advertisement for bids was published in Finance and Commerce on October 9, 2026 with construction plans and specifications uploaded to Quest CDN for bids. A formal bid opening was completed on October 30, 2026 and the results are summarized in the table below. Out of 15 contractor plan holders, four companies responded to the solicitation with bids. With much the expense for this project driven by offsite disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous soil and debris, the cost of trucking and fuel are primary drivers of increased costs. All bids received exceed the current available construction budget of $2,000,000.
Company | Base Bid | Alternate Bid | Total Bid |
Johnson Companies | $2,162,219.00 | $188,126.00 | $2,350,345.00 |
Rachel Contracting | $2,874,713.00 | $214,509.00 | $3,089,222.00 |
Park Construction | $2,892,545.45 | $208,508.80 | $3,101,054.25 |
Veit & Company | $3,636,750.76 | $211,725.51 | $3,848,476.27 |
Staff recommends that the bids be rejected and that the Board authorize the Superintendent to re-bid the project during the summer of 2027 for construction during the winter of 2027/2028. This pause will allow time for staff to address design modifications that reduce cost, and to seek additional grants and partner funding to deliver the full project and its suite of water quality and habitat benefits.
The Joint Powers Board for Sochacki Park convened on November 2, 2026 to receive a project update and to discuss bids. The JPA partners concurred with the recommended approach to reject and re-bid in 2027.
Relationship to the System Plan:
The Request for Action supports the following goal(s) of the System Plan:
Goal 1: You Belong Here
Goal 2: Parks Matter
Goal 3: Lead by Example
