By Mike Anthony

Executive Editor

news1@callnewspapers.com

The second reading of an ordinance awarding a $3.7 million contract for the construction of a new Public Works facility was scheduled to be considered earlier this week by the Crestwood Board of Aldermen.
The Board of Aldermen was set to meet Tuesday night — after the Call went to press. A closed session to discuss legal matters was slated after the open session.

The Board of Aldermen voted unanimously April 11 to approve the first reading of the ordinance awarding the $3,703,000 design-build contract for the new Public Works facility to the Plocher Construction Co. Inc.
The new Public Works facility will be constructed at 9353 Watson Industrial Park, and will replace the city’s existing facility at 8645 Pardee Lane.
The existing Public Works facility will be demolished as part of a Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District, or MSD, project on Pardee Lane designed to alleviate overflows into Gravois Creek. The Gravois Trunk Sanitary Storage Facility Project will include the construction of two sewage storage tanks, a pump station, piping and two structures to divert wet weather flow to the pump station. MSD is paying for the new Public Works building, which should be completed in early 2018.
The work, including the relocation of the city’s Public Works facility, will be funded through MSD Project Clear, undertaken as part of a consent decree with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Missouri Coalition for the Environment.
The $3.7 million contract amount for the new Public Works facility is based on Plocher’s base bid, contingencies or additional work and two alternates — three-sided covered parking for large dump trucks and equipment at a cost of $175,000, and parking for Grant’s Trail, including an Americans With Disabilities Act ramp connection to the trail, at a cost of $58,000.
In an April 4 memorandum to City Administrator Kris Simpson, Director of Public Services James Gillam wrote that MSD has agreed to contribute $100,000 to the cost of the three-sided covered parking alternate. For both alternates, the city’s cost will be $133,000, he wrote.
“In the capital program, there has been up to $150,000 scheduled for the replacement of the roofs at the current Public Works facility,” Gillam wrote, noting that a third alternate, three-sided covered parking for smaller vehicles and pickup trucks, “was not recommended at this time due to funding.”
Three proposals for the design-build project were submitted. Besides Plocher, ARCO Construction Co. and Kozeny-Wagner Inc. submitted proposals.
In December, MSD Assistant Director of Engineering Brad Nevois updated the board about the project and MSD’s desire to construct the new Public Works facility as a design-build project, as opposed to design-bid-build. Under design build, one entity — the design-build team — works under a single contract with the project owner to provide both design and construction services.
Aldermen voted unanimously Dec. 13 to authorize city staff to work with MSD officials on the design-build project.
In his memo, Gillam wrote, “The contractor selection is based on a combination of scores. Their technical score accounts for 40 percent of their score and their price proposal accounts for 60 percent of their score …”
ARCO’s technical proposal “was determined nonresponsive and was not scored,” Gillam wrote, adding, “Technical proposal scores for Kozeny-Wagner and Plocher were very close. The price proposal score for Plocher was better than Kozeny-Wag-ner … Based on these scores, Plocher Construction Co. Inc. is being recommended as the contractor.”
During a discussion of Plocher’s proposed contract, board President Grant Mabie of Ward 3 asked whether the board could use some of the city’s Community Block Development Grant funds for the connection to Grant’s Trail.
“I don’t know if we could use it for all of that cost, but I’m sure we could use it at least for the ADA ramp portion of that project,” Simpson said.
Mabie suggested also including the three-sided covered parking for smaller vehicles and pickup trucks into the contract with Plocher.
“… If you include the cost of alternates A, B and C in the recommended bid, that cost comes out to $387,000, and the city’s responsibility would be $287,000 if we opted for all three, with MSD contributing $100,000 toward that …,” he said. “To me, when you have an open construction site and you’re putting close to $4 million into the site, it seems foolish not to do everything contemplated in the plans. They’ve got the alternates A, B and C all spec’d out and I think we all know that if any of those aren’t done now, they won’t be done. Things wind up on master plans in Crestwood and they don’t get done for 20 years or ever, and so if we opt not to do something now, I’m sure it won’t get done …”
Mabie later made a motion to include the three-sided covered parking for smaller vehicles and pickup trucks into the contract with Plocher. His motion, seconded by Ward 2 Alderman Mary Stadter, was defeated with a 5-3 vote.
Besides Mabie and Stadter, Ward 1 Alderman Richard Breeding was in favor.
Opposed were Ward 1 Alderman Darryl Wallach, Ward 2 Alderman Justin Char-boneau, Ward 3 Alderman Jerry Miguel and Ward 4 Aldermen Tim Anderson and Tony Kennedy.
In a related matter, aldermen voted unanimously last week to adopt an ordinance amending the city’s original agreement with MSD for the new Public Works facility.
“This was negotiated with the attorneys for MSD after, as you’ll recall, the board voted to undergo the design-build process,” City Attorney Lisa Stump said. “Back in December, the board approved that. That process wasn’t originally contemplated in the agreement with MSD, so on our recommendation and with the concurrence of MSD legal counsel, we thought an amendment to the agreement was proper just to solidify that process and make it clear, and then also as a result of the design-build process, there have been some additional legal fees that we didn’t contemplate when we originally estimated it.
“So MSD is allowing also for an additional $7,000 in reimbursed legal fees to the extent that they’re needed for the result of the design build and drafting the amendment.”