Kalona accepts $2.6 million low bid for revitalization plan

By Mary Zielinski
“We’re only going to do this once and we need to do it right,” council member Ken Herington said, urging accepting the low bid of $2,652,398 for the city’s $2.8 million downtown revitalization plan. The council met in special session Monday.

“We’re only going to do this once and we need to do it right”

The bid, from All-American Concrete of West Liberty, is about ten percent higher than estimate, but the entire council was in agreement to proceed and not attempt rebidding.
“It would be a minimum of two months,” said Herington, adding there is “no guarantee the bids would be any better.”
City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh said there is a $282,872 “gap” in the revenues as a result of the bids, but that the city could cover it from Washington County Riverboat Foundation (WCRF) municipal allocations and from LOST revenue.
Schlabaugh said that the WCRF allocation “is about $130,000 per year” and that starting with the third quarter of 2011, the majority of the funds could go to the revitalization project. All the previous and current WCRF allocations already are earmarked for the project. Council members later suggested 75 percent of the allocation, leaving the other 25 percent for other city projects. The WCRF also awarded Kalona a $1,050,000 grant last fall, to be paid over five years.
However, the city hopes to obtain final funding from Vision Iowa. It has applied for a $550,000 grant and will meet with VI again May 12.
Schlabaugh explained that the Revitalization Committee and the council’s Finance Committee also reviewed possible cutbacks in the project, if it became necessary. Items could include changes in seasonal lighting and some lighting for the parking lot, leaving the A Place surface as chip and seal rather than asphalt or concrete, changes in the gateway entrance signs and banners for the downtown. There also could be further local support, as there has been for the purchase of downtown sidewalk quilt blocks.
However, council members were in complete agreement that the city needs to do the entire project, that it was “sold (to the residents) in a certain way,” said council member Steve Lafaurie, and that means doing it that way.
“We need to do it right, do it once,” said council member Claudine Miller-Zahradnek.
“You only get one crack at this one,” said council member Dave Kempf for whom the session was his final council meeting. He resigned last week, effective April 30.
The All-American bid, which MMS Consultants, Inc., the project designers and engineers, recommended accepting has a $2,298,681 base with five alternates, all of which were accepted. The first alternate, $308,533 is for paving the Community Center’s west side parking lot. Alternates 2 ($17,920) 3, ($15,040) and 4 ($11,224) will add Snow-Melt systems within the sidewalks at Hills Bank, Kalona Cooperative Telephone Company, the Chamber of Commerce and Freedom Security Bank. . Alternate 5, $1,000, will add concrete piers within the sidewalk for incorrectly constructed existing canopy posts. Schlabaugh noted that the city will be reimbursed by the businesses for alternates 2-5. The other funding is the WCRF $1 million grant, city commitment of $1.1 million, the possible Vision Iowa grant, a possible $20,000 I Jobs grant, $20,000 from Washington County and $101,600 in community support.
Work on the project is expected to start next month.