Cristobal wins library contract

Construction is expected to begin soon on the $1.5 million library expansion project.

Cristobal Construction of Mountain Home was awarded the contract for the new library expansion project, during action taken by the city council Monday night.

Cristobal's base bid of $1,221,264 was the lowest of the four general contractors who submitted bids last Friday.

The $1.5 million bond to more than double the size of the current library was approved by the voters last August.

"At that time," library board chairman Kelly Everitt said, "it looked like we had plenty of money. But skyrocketing construction costs in the last six months, especially in materials costs, meant that in the end we barely had enough. It was tight. (John) Cristobal really sharpened his pencil on this one and we couldn't be happier than having a local contractor win the bid.

"That pleased both the library board, and the city council. It means a lot of the money for the bond is going to say in this community and get recycled."

Because of the rapidly spiraling costs, the library board has been paring back over the last few months many of the "extras" it had originally hoped to have in the building, but the basic design and concept have not been altered significantly during the process.

Adding in fees for architects and engineers, plus other services, and a "bare bones" $127,000 budget for furniture, fixtures and equipment (such as extra book shelves, tables and chairs), the final costs for the project have left only $50,000 to $60,000 available for contingencies. That's about half the normal standard for a project this size.

In order to help with the costs, the city had offered last month to provide some services, such as landscaping and demolition/waste removal, which, because of that offer, were not included in the final base bid.

At Monday night's council meeting the city agreed to provide $20,560 for demolition and hauling costs by the contractor, and over-excavation of the site. The landscaping and irrigation system, currently estimated to be approximately $25,647, won't be needed until the next fiscal year (which begins in October 2005), and will be covered by funds from the regular library budget for that year.

Construction is expected to begin soon and the contractor has 210 days to complete the project, putting final completion of the building at sometime around the end of the year, weather permitting.

The library, currently operating out of a temporary location sharing space with the Western Elmore County Recreation District at 140 N. 3rd East St. (the old school district administration office), is expected to move back into the newly remodeled library at the corner of N. 10th East and E. 8th North streets, right about the first of the year.

Two amenities, the canopy over the outside patio area and a skylight in the reading/study area, were among items not included in the base bid, but could be added to the project if contingency funds aren't spent, or they could be added to the library budget in subsequent years and completed at a later date.

The other three bidders, whose bids were opened Friday, were: RSCI at $1,254,980; Valley Design at $1,394,000; and SEZ at $1,328,484.