Sean C. Morgan
The Sweet Home City Council last week approved plans to seek bids to remodel the new City Hall building.
The council voted 7-0 to move forward with the project during its regular meeting on Aug. 28. City officials are planning to move City Hall to the old Sweet Home Ranger District building, 3225 Main St., following a remodel.
Scott Edwards Architecture of Portland has submitted permit documents to the city for the project, said Andrew Kraus of SEA. The goal was to bid the project Tuesday, Sept. 4.
The project is open to any general contractor, Kraus said. It will require a bid bond, and any subcontractor will be able to bid on the project through the general contractor.
The city purchased the building as its new City Hall in July 2016 for $750,000.
The building was constructed in 1989 for the Sweet Home Ranger District, which moved to its work center from 4431 Main St. in May 2006. Because of shrinking staffing and budget levels, Ranger District officials sought to save more than $100,000 per year and moved back to their old headquarters, where the ranger station is now. The district had paid $240,000 per year in lease payments for the 12,000-square-foot building at 3225 Main St.
The council decided to purchase the building due to a number of problems with the current City Hall building at 1140 12th Ave.
“The next step is to now advertise the construction documents and engineered plans for public bidding to get a true understanding of actual costs,” said City Manager Ray Towry in the request for council action. “The schematic design estimate was just over $1 million; however, SEA recognized that number may be high because they used a Portland contractor for the estimate. A local contractor should theoretically be less expensive.”
Councilor Dave Trask asked representatives of SEA whether the city could make sure everything the contractor can is purchased locally during the project, depending on prices.
The council could do that, answered Sid Scott. “The best thing to do is to encourage them to solicit bids from local folks. It’s probably not in our best interest to require them.”
Kraus said the city could offer incentives, but agreed it is probably not in the long-term interest of the city.
But the city could “encourage” the general contractor to use local contractors, Scott said. “Most contractors will probably be doing that anyway.”
Scott said advertisements would go out locally, on the city’s website and in trade publications. They also will appear in “plan centers,” where especially subcontractors can see the details of the project and bid.
After bids are complete, the council will review them and the apparent low bidder will be submitted to the council for contract approval.
Present at the meeting were Bob Briana, Susan Coleman, Lisa Gourley, Mayor Greg Mahler, Trask, James Goble and Diane Gerson.
In other business, the council:
n Approved a request by staff to request proposals from information technology providers.
The city currently pays $37,000 per year to Cascade Computer Maintenance for services, with an additional $10,000 for service as needed. The city spends that $10,000 about every year and a half. Under the arrangement, the city receives two days per month of onsite IT assistance while any other visits are billed at $75 per hour.
The city has used Cascade for more than a decade.
“Over time, the costs for such a service has grown while staff feels that support has declined in that time,” said Finance Director Brandon Neish in his request for council action. “Most importantly, CCM does not maintain a 24-7 support team to aid the Police Department should issues arise after hours. In order to extract additional services from CCM, additional funding would be necessary to pay for the increased service offering.”
Neish told the council he will send out requests for proposals on Sept. 4 and return to the council with proposals on Oct. 23, with an IT provider beginning work on Nov. 1.
n Approved the purchase of new restrooms for Sankey Park.
Staff received four informal project quotes from five vendors contacted by the city.
The cost is estimated at $73,000. With additional construction of pathways, plumbing and electrical connections, the total cost will be $86,000 to $90,000.
The council agreed to contract with CXT of Spokane, Wash., to provide a Denali model restroom that will be crane lifted onto a concrete pad. It will feature a two-tone color, fixtures, electric hand dryers, magnetic door locks and exterior drinking fountains.
RomTec of Roseburg offered a lower price at $69,000, but assembly of the structure by the company was an estimate only at $25,000. The Public Restroom Company had the highest price at $180,000 for a high-end unit.
Staff Engineer Joe Graybill said the new restrooms should be in place and open in December. Following that, the city will remove the existing facilities.
The new restrooms will be located closer to the entrance to the park, west of the old caretaker’s home by the parking lot.
n Approved an ordinance and a resolution amending and adopting the Rules of the City Council.