Downtown buiding renovation plan scrapped by Council

 RED OAK – A massive renovation of several downtown Red Oak buildings has been scrapped after bids for the work came in nearly twice as high as expected.

A coalition of city officials, business owners, the Downtown Urban Renewal Board, and architect Daric O’Neal have been devising plans and securing funding for the 32-builiding project for more than two years.

In September 2012, a $500,000 Community Development Block grant was secured for the estimated $1 million project, while additional funds were secured through the DUR and a council-approved tax increment financing (TIF) proposal. 

While construction was originally projected to begin in April 2014, the bidding process was postponed from the fall of 2013 to this summer. 

As a result, only one contractor submitted a bid for the work, with an estimated cost at close to $2 million. 

O’Neal met with Red Oak’s City Council at its Aug. 4 meeting, and said there were several reasons for the higher costs, including the bidding process taking place during an unusually busy time for contractors due to spring storms. 

Additionally, O’Neal admitted he included several “non-essential” items in the proposal, including extra painting, masonry work and installation of energy-efficient doors and windows. 

At O’Neal’s urging, the Council rejected the bid and the project will be redesigned. O’Neal anticipates scaling back the proj ect significantly and involving fewer buildings. 

“I would essentially recommend we reject the bid we received and we go into a redesign and scope reduction process to bring these facades back into a budget that meets our grant,” he said. 

Council member Larry Barnett said he was “shocked” estimates were this far off from the bid costs, but said had he been more aware of the proposed plans, he wouldn’t have been so surprised. 

“I would encourage you … to develop better communication between the council and the administrator and the mayor,” Barnett said. “I had no clue what was going on with some of these buildings. I would have known by looking at this that some of these things should have been thrown out from the start. I think we may have shot ourselves in the foot. I think we let this thing get out of hand and now we are gong to have to pay the price for it.”

As for any additional expenses, O’Neal said there wouldn’t be extra costs associated with redesigning the proposal. 

The building façade  renovation was one of three phases of a master downtown plan first envisioned nearly 30 years ago.

The city completed the first phase with a $1.3 million sidewalk project last fall. In addition to the building renovation, the city is also planning on redesigning Fountain Square Park. 

Work on that phase has already begun with the relocation of the gazebo to College Park and the installation of new playground equipment. The older equipment is expected to be removed in the fall to allow for redesign of the war monuments. 

Also at the meeting, the City Council agreed to purchase a new tanker fire truck at the cost of $230,000. The truck will be paid for through sales tax funds and general obligation bonds.