Sletten's construction bid is well above the $7 million estimate used when Park County voters approved a capital facilities tax in 2006 to raise money for pool construction. (An additional $2 million was approved for an operations and maintenance endowment.)
Sletten president Shawn Warner of Powell said, “We've offered (to city officials) that we know of several items we can adjust in terms of products and building materials that could save additional money. I think the city is waiting for architect approval, and that's the appropriate thing to do. But what's apparent is, even without the 5 percent (preference given to Wyoming companies), we are roughly $670,000 below (the next lowest bidders on all three phases).”
The project is divided into three contracts, and alternates, with each contract requiring a separate bid amount. Contract No. 1 is for construction of the actual pool; Contract No. 2 deals with the pool mechanics, and Contract No. 3 is the general construction phase. Sletten was the only company to submit a combination bid for all three phases of construction. Other bidders include L.M. Olson Inc. of Rawlins as well as Illinois companies Ricchio Inc. and Illinois Mechanical. The last three companies each bid on a single contract.
Logan said the city “reserves the right to reject any and all bids,” and that remains a possibility.
However, City Councilman John Wetzel said, “I don't believe it would be good right now to reject the bids (and start over). My personal thought is that we should accept the low bid, work to cut materials to save money and move forward.”
Warner agreed, saying, “We believe it's in the city's best interest to award the bid to us. We can value engineer to cut some costs, we're prepare to begin as scheduled. (A new bidding process) involves delays, re-doing plans and rebidding, and there's no assurance the costs won't increase (in the end).”
The city will perform close to $900,000 of in-kind construction work for infrastructure related to the project. The State Loan and Investment Board also recently approved the county consensus request for nearly $1.4 million for the city of Powell, a portion of which will be used for pool infrastructure construction.