By LAUREN ROBBEN
At last Thursday’s Hays City Commission meeting, project manager John Braun presented a bid for construction engineering for the North Vine Street Corridor Project.
The bid consisted of a work estimate form detailing the scope of construction and fees for the service provider, Kirkham Michael. The company would provide construction, engineering and inspection to the corridor project but needed to be authorized by the city commission before being signed onto the project.
Kirkham Michael’s services towards the project would occur over two construction seasons between May through the significant completion in November 2021, and until the estimated final completion in May 2022.
The corridor project is currently funded in part by a BUILD grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation and is being administered through KDOT. Hence, the project needs to be inspected by an engineering firm.
The company needed to be pre-qualified by KDOT to inspect either state or federal projects.
Kirkham Michael submitted a proposal and was reviewed by city staff. City officials found Kirkham Michael was qualified to accomplish the required services needed for project completion.
The service provider’s initial scope and fee submittal in the proposal was estimated at $1.6 million, which was reviewed by KDOT and city staff and was rejected.
In due course, a revised scope and fee proposal was negotiated and drawn up in the amount of $1.2 million, which is the typical amount for construction engineering work, according to city documents.
Braun was seeking authorization from the commissioners to authorize him to sign the work estimate form which would grant Kirkham Michael the right to provide their services with the city and work on the corridor project.
The commissioners authorized the city manager to sign the work estimate form and allow the company to provide services to the construction project.
The construction for the North Vine Street Corridor Project is set to begin late next month.