[0:00] Spaghetti. >> Okay. Thank you all very much for being

[0:05] here for this special meeting of the city of Fomit City Council. Uh today is

[0:12] Wednesday, April 29th. It's currently 7:12 p.m. And we'll start with a roll

[0:18] call. >> Spencer Irwin

[0:22] » here. >> Nan Crocker

[0:24] » here. >> Teresa Nelson

[0:26] » here. >> Brit Salsa

[0:27] » present. Mayor Christopher McMorren >> present. Okay. Um the only business on

[0:33] our agenda tonight is um discussing the invitation to bid responses for the

[0:39] water treatment plant this plant project. Um and then we'll head out. But

[0:46] before that we have public comment if anyone's here for public comment.

[0:51] I don't believe we have anyone registered online. So, um, now I turn it

[0:57] over to our city manager to discuss the intent to bid process.

[1:01] » All right. So, we did get, uh, two bids in for the water treatment plant. Um,

[1:08] upon receiving the bids, the city staff and then city attorney helped prepare a

[1:14] questionnaire to help determine responsibility. responsibility and

[1:18] contract language means that the there's some Oregon statute language where the

[1:23] the bidder has to show that they are responsible or able to carry out the

[1:30] contract. And so we asked questions about history of previous projects

[1:35] um uh size of the projects kind of that um nature. Talked about um we got

[1:43] resumes from their um higher up employees that were going to be

[1:48] overseeing the project, their general that was going to be on site and all

[1:51] that type of information. So we got the questionnaire out. There was a protest

[1:56] to the questionnaire on some of the language that was used. Um was a little

[2:01] more narrative than what the OS specific language is. And so we revised that back

[2:07] down, stuck a little bit closer to the exact language in the OS and sent it

[2:12] back out to both biders and got both responses. Those were due by 3:00 last

[2:16] Friday. We got both of those. I reviewed those with the city attorney, public

[2:20] works director, and the city engineer. And we believe based on the responses

[2:24] that both biders are qualified, not qualified, are responsible. They've

[2:29] shown they're qualified as responsible biders. And so, uh, both biders are

[2:33] good. And so, we'll be going with the low bid, um, per state procurement laws

[2:38] and and rules. And so, I've got a letter that came in just today from the city

[2:44] engineer and ORE, Inc. was the low bid. uh Sladeen uh contractors

[2:53] uh was the other bidder uh not to be awarded.

[2:58] Once the notice of intent to award goes out, there's a 7-day protest period

[3:03] again. Um and then once we're past that 7-day

[3:07] period, then we'll enter into contract negotiations and get our contract.

[3:11] Shortly after contract negotiations, we'll move forward into pre-construction

[3:15] meeting and start getting answers to like when are we going to start, when

[3:19] are we going to be done, when is Flo Community Services driveway going to be

[3:23] impacted, and all of those types of questions. So, um for tonight, we're

[3:29] just looking for approval to go ahead and release this notice of intent to

[3:32] award. Um, I can tell you that the um

[3:39] low bid came in at 13.8 million. Um, higher than what our engineers

[3:47] estimate was. Um, both bids were higher than the engineers estimate, which we

[3:51] weren't overly surprised about. Um, there are some specific items that we're

[3:57] looking at perhaps being able to shave off of this project, which is why we

[4:01] don't have a full narrative there. Um but even with the projects we look to

[4:05] shave, we did look at that really closely and even if we shave some of the

[4:09] projects off that were listed as optional projects, um the bidding

[4:13] preference or the bidding sequence is still the same. The low bid was still

[4:16] the low bid even if we remove a couple items that were listed as optional

[4:20] things. So we we did look at that very explicitly, but we didn't make any

[4:25] decisions at that point on what we were actually going to move forward and

[4:28] whatnot. as an example, the well on North or the well on South Ninth Street

[4:33] is in there as an option to get that up and going and try to get that connected.

[4:37] It's not something that has to happen with construction of the treatment plant

[4:40] getting that online. And so that more than likely is and one of those optional

[4:44] things that we won't do in order to save some money today. We can do that some

[4:48] point in the future. If we need to rehabilitate that well and get it

[4:52] connected, we can do that some point in the future. We're just not gonna do it

[4:55] as part of this project in order to save some costs there. So, um, so I don't

[5:00] have an exact dollar amount, but I can tell you it won't be any more than the

[5:02] 13.8, which included every all of the optional items, right? And so, um, we'll

[5:08] get the notes of intent toward out and then we'll, um, get through the protest

[5:13] period and then we will, um, come back with the agreement for the city to look

[5:19] at for approval of of those, um, of the contract.

[5:25] I'd like tonight to um I'd like tonight to get approval to

[5:30] release the notice of intent award and also direction to go ahead and enter

[5:33] into that contract agreement and get moving forward because time is of the

[5:38] essence. Um both biders are very aware of the time constraints that we've got

[5:43] with the ARPA funding that needs to be spent and reimbured by the end of the

[5:47] calendar year. Um, so I'm even waiting until our May meeting that's losing

[5:53] another week and a half or two weeks on the project. So, uh, if the council's

[5:57] comfortable with giving staff a little bit of lenance to the air, I'd like to

[6:00] get, um, direction to go ahead and enter into that contract and get moving

[6:03] forward. >> Thank you, Chris. Uh, any questions or

[6:07] just councelor Crocker? >> Uh, we had talked about um, do they have

[6:12] a large enough uh, personnel to work longer hours to get it done on time? or

[6:18] are they limited on? >> We weren't able to ask like qualifying

[6:22] questions to qualify them for the job. It was listed as

[6:27] » no qualifications necessary. We could only ask questions about their

[6:31] being a responsible bidder or not. Um that's not something that we could

[6:36] address. We will be looking at their schedule and looking at um that during

[6:43] the contract phase and trying to ensure that we can frontload that project as

[6:49] much as possible. Um I can tell you

[6:55] that I think it's still possible. I I I don't think we're I mean, we're in

[6:59] danger, right, of not being able to get all that, but um you know, it's not like

[7:04] we're a month out from having to have it all done where it's impossible. I I

[7:07] think there is still a good possibility that that work can be done and that

[7:11] money can be spent down in the time frame that we have, but we do need to

[7:14] get going. If if we get two months into this and hit a substantial delay, we

[7:19] could be in jeopardy. So, there's definitely concern about watching that

[7:22] time frame, watching the timelines closely. And they do understand that or

[7:26] you have that. Yep. They they know that there's ARPA funds involved. They know

[7:30] that they need to be spent this year so they're aware. Y

[7:34] » thank you. Other questions or discussion?

[7:41] Okay. Um I guess I'm assuming we'll get some kind

[7:46] of update on this at our May meeting. In May, we'll have the letter with the

[7:51] breakdown and the options that we're choosing to not do. We'll have a total

[7:55] price. >> Okay.

[7:56] » And we'll probably have it drafted. I mean, we won't do the full contract, but

[7:59] we'll have the kind of the high points of the contracts and time frames.

[8:03] » So, hopefully we have all that wrapped up by May is the goal.

[8:06] » Okay. >> And what's your ask, Chris? What are you

[8:11] looking for? uh a motion to direct staff to or direct the city manager to release

[8:17] the notice of intent to award and following the 7-day protest period to go

[8:22] ahead and enter into contract negotiations with the low bid.

[8:26] » So move. >> Okay. Is there a second?

[8:29] » Second. >> Okay. It's been moved by councelor

[8:32] Salsa, seconded by councelor Crocker to direct staff to release the notice of

[8:38] award and following the 7-day protest period, move forward with the contract.

[8:44] Is that right? >> Perfect. Look at that. Um, any

[8:48] discussion on that motion?

[8:53] Seeing none, would all those in favor please raise your hand and say I. I.

[8:57] » The motion passes unanimously. Thank you.

[9:01] » Now that you've said yes,

[9:04] » I I do just want to make you aware we are actively working with Business

[9:11] Oregon, some of our elected officials at the state level, the federal level to

[9:17] try to get any wiggle room that we can out of making sure that we can use those

[9:21] ARPA funds. So, I just want you to know that your staff is working diligently

[9:25] and looking in at multiple scenarios. um we're not resting on our laurels and

[9:30] assuming that we're going to get this done and be able to do it. So there's I

[9:34] won't go into all the different details because there's about four or five

[9:37] strategies that we're kind of going after right now to ensure that we can

[9:40] maximize our use of the ARPA funds that have been awarded to us already. So um

[9:45] just want you to know that we're we're aware we're concerned. We're trying to

[9:49] even look at like the water reservoir if there's a way that we can help get

[9:53] reimbursement for some of that instead of just all the money we did there which

[9:56] would be about $4 million we can get reimbursement for right now which would

[10:00] mean we only got like four million to spend between us. So there's some

[10:04] strategies that we're trying to do on the back end but it's going to take some

[10:08] flexibility on business Oregon where they can be flexible. They've got very

[10:11] stringent guidelines they have to follow as well. It's their federal dollars that

[10:15] came to the state that had very tight cords and strings attached to it, things

[10:20] they have to do. Um, and they're trying to work with us as well. So, anyway, I

[10:26] just want you to know staff's working hard to make sure we maximize that.

[10:29] We're not just hoping for the best. >> Um, thank you very much.

[10:34] » Yeah. >> Um, what was that deadline? Was it

[10:36] October or was it December? >> December.

[10:39] » December. By the end of the year, everything has to be spent and re

[10:44] submitted and reimbursed. So, >> our target is like November.

[10:48] » Okay. >> To try to finish spending the money and

[10:50] give ourselves a half, two months to get reimbursed.

[10:57] » Um, yeah, I I appreciate that. I know something I've talked about with the

[11:01] city manager is obviously right now our focus just needs to be on getting this

[11:06] done. Um, and I am grateful for all hands on deck getting it done. I think I

[11:13] just want to kind of put a flag down for the council that when it is done, I want

[11:17] us to take a serious look back at some of the things that made this get so

[11:21] delayed. I think it can be tempting for the project to be done to be like, "Oh,

[11:25] okay. We're done. Moving on." Um, and I just want us to do a little post-mortem,

[11:29] I think, after the project. Um, just to make sure we don't run into these same

[11:34] types of delays in the future. Obviously, this is somewhat of a unique

[11:38] case with the ARPA funds, but um just some of the engineering delays and other

[11:43] concerns I want us to have like a serious conversation about down the

[11:47] road. So, >> yeah,

[11:50] » that's all we have. Thank you. >> All right, I'll keep you posted.

[11:54] » I brought two drinks.

[12:00] Okay. If there are no final uh comments, questions, discussion items, then I will

[12:06] adjourn this meeting at 7:24 p.m. and we'll see you in May.

[12:12] » Thanks.

City Council Special meeting 4/29/2026

Transcript