During a work session at the July 16 meeting, Director of Public Works Alonzo Liñán told council members the city had only got one qualified bid for the project in Old Town Keller.
He said the project is about six to eight weeks behind schedule, but added he talked with officials from Tarrant County and the delay with rebidding will not impact the $1.84 million the county gave toward the $21.9 million project. The county has contributed a total of $7.59 million toward this project including $5.75 million in bond funds, according to previous reporting from Community Impact.
The background
The South Elm Street reconstruction is the second phase of a plan to improve Old Town Keller, according to city documents. Liñán said the only qualified bid came in at $33 million and told council members that city staff tried removing portions of the plan such as custom lights, way-finding signs and changing from stamped concrete to regular concrete, but that trimmed only $5 million off the bid.
The public works director said the city is not able to negotiate line items with the bidder and ultimately recommended going out for bid again.
The specifics
Plans are in motion to make roadway improvements on South Elm Street from Bear Creek Parkway to FM 1709 in Keller. According to a December presentation, the project includes elements such as:
- On-street parking
- Gateway features
- Landscaping
- Benches
- Trash cans
- Bike racks
Liñán said his belief was there would be more interest in the project with a rebid. He said the city received a second bid which was lower than the qualified one, but not all needed information was provided by that company and it was disqualified.
“We’ve talked with a couple of other contractors that are better aware of their workload and they would want to be competitive in this as well,” Liñán said.
