At the Clarion City Council meeting on Tuesday, February 15, the council took up several agenda items related to the Early Learning Center project. A public hearing was held on proposed plans, specifications, form of contract and estimate of cost for the project that would renovate the Mosaic building into the Early Learning Center. The hearing was a necessary step as the city is committing funds to the project. No comments from the public were made during the hearing or received prior to it.
The council also talked about bids for the project that had been received earlier that day. Anthony Meinke, representing Woodruff Construction, who is acting as the project’s superintendent, explained that the project had been broken down into seven parts that went to bid. He was pleased that all parts had been bid on as the climate for construction projects has been difficult.
City Administrator Clint Middleton said they were prepared for the project to come in over the original estimate, which was approximately $1.1 million for all seven parts. Bids came in 28% over at about $1.386 million. Meinke said that the mechanical package came in significantly over the estimated price. He also added that with other costs such as engineers’ fees, it’s close to $1.5 million for the whole construction package.
ISG Engineer Nick Frederickson who reviewed the bids added that they all looked complete and there were no irregularities. He said that ISG ultimately recommends that the city accept the bids. Meinke added that there would not be much point waiting around for lower bids, since “prices are not going to go down anytime soon.” The low bidders on the seven parts of the project were Hilsabeck Schacht, Hennigar Construction, Rojohn Home Improvement, Webster Glass, Jim’s Carpet One, NCIS, and CEC Electric.
The council voted to accept the seven bid packages “subject to execution of the purchase agreement” for the Mosaic building. The goal is for the renovation project to meet an August deadline.
Three men from Livermore spoke during the open forum time to ask the council questions about opening a liquor store in Clarion. Last year they opened Sweet Water Spirits, a liquor store in Livermore, and are looking at expanding. They asked questions about obtaining a liquor license and about constructing a parking lot. They have already looked at a couple of locations in town though they did not indicate where. Middleton invited them to speak to him more about the project.
Alex Rothman also spoke before the council asking about incentives for building a home in Clarion. He and his wife are planning on tearing down an older structure and building a home. Rothman said that he has previously bought properties in Clarion and improved them. As he is now planning to build a new home, he is looking at incentives that local towns can provide. He said he has checked with other towns who are making it “very enticing to move,” with incentives like water bill breaks, tax incentives, etc. Rothman added, “I’m just wondering if there is anything in Clarion to entice people to actually improve properties because I’m not seeing much to keep me here.” The council discussed a few things including a water incentive and development agreements with tax rebates. They indicated they would like to further look into incentivizing such projects.
