Overbudget bids are delaying a project to develop a Paducah riverfront recreation area and dock.
The Paducah Riverfront Development Authority accepted contractor bids this week for the second phase of renovations to Shultz Park, which involves building a gangway and transient fueling dock as well as adding new sidewalks, stairs and lighting around the park.
A $10 million bid topped the proposals and a $7.8 million dollar bid, from New Albany, Ind.-based Mac Construction and Excavating, was the lowest.
But PRDA chairman Bruce Brockenborough says the lowest bidder is still more than $1 million above the city engineers’ approx $6 million estimates, so now those project costs have to be reexamined.
“The reason our engineering estimate was more than a million dollars under what the lowest bidder was causes the city to want to see where there’s a disconnect," said Brockenborough. "If there’s a specific element or design to bring the project more in line with the budget, that needs to be identified. So that’s the next step: to break down the project and see where our estimates missed where the bidder was.”
Brockenborough says any budget revisions need city and state approval so it may take some time.
“The city has a detailed bid," he said. "They can compare that bid to what they thought every element was going to cost, then have the leeway to go back to Mac Construction as the low bidder and try to negotiate changes.
"But we realize that if this hadn’t gone over budget, two weeks from now we would have been under construction.”
The first phase of the project saw an expansion of the park by adding approximately 230,000 cubic yards of fill material into the Ohio River and the installation of 12 36-inch steel pilings to support a gangway.
The current phase involves building that gangway which will lead to a 20-foot wide, 400-foot long transient dock capable of being extend to 1,200 feet in length. The dock will provide boats a location to dock and provide fuel, power and sewer facilities.
Brockenborough says after selecting a contractor, construction should begin within ten days and last between five and six months.
