• City Staff is recommending that City Council reject all bids received for the ITB 24-30: Main Street Promise Project.

• Staff need to revise the language in the bidder responsibility criteria to better clarify the City's intended position.
• The project will now be subject to the City's current apprenticeship program requirements, which took effect July 1, 2024.  

• Transportation and Mobility - a safe, future-ready and convenient transportation system.
• Economic Opportunity - a place where a wide variety of businesses of all sizes grow and thrive.

The Main Street Promise project includes a complete reconstruction of the Main Street corridor between 5th Street and 15th Street. On June 4, 2024, the City received three bids for the subject project. The bids ranged between $18,300,000 and $22,000,000. 

This project is planned to be constructed in a dense, urban, active business district.  Contractor experience in successfully delivering similar projects in comparable urban environments is critical to ongoing success of the business district and overall project success.  The bid documents contained bidder responsibility criteria which set forth the minimum required project experience a successful contractor needed to possess to be eligible to be awarded the construction contract. These criteria included prior completion of projects by the contractor that were located in an urbanized downtown corridor similar to the Main Street location. Having reviewed the information submitted by the three bidders, it is apparent that revisions to the bidder responsibility criteria are needed to better reflect the City's minimum requirements for the Main Street Promise Project.

In addition, since the project is proposed to be readvertised for construction bids at a later date and given the July 1, 2024, implementation of a revised City apprenticeship policy, the bid documents will need to be revised to reflect implementation of that policy within the Main Street Promise Project. Staff is recommending that City Council reject all bids and direct staff to prepare revised bid documents to be advertised for bids at a later date.  

1. Rebidding the project with clearer information as to the City's minimum project experience requirements should attract bidders with relevant experience, fostering a more competitive bid process.
2. The timing for rebidding the project in Fall 2024 should attract more bidders who are planning work for the 2025-26 construction season, therein creating a more competitive bid process and potential cost savings for the City.