OSAGE BEACH – The Osage Beach Board of Aldermen on Thursday unanimously accepted a nearly $2 million bid from Stockman Construction of Jefferson City to make improvements to Nichols Road between Osage Beach Parkway and the Highway 54 Expressway.
The cost far exceeds the $1.1 million the city budgeted for the project, which is expected to better move traffic on Nichols while providing a new, improved entrance into Lake Regional Health Systems.
Stockman provided the sole bid on the project, which surprised Osage Beach Public Works Director Nick Edelman.
In a report to the board, Edelman said the city typically would get bids from four or five companies on a similar project.
But contractors sat this project out for various reasons, he said. One company recently was bought out and no longer bids on full road construction projects. Another went out of business. Another was too busy with other work to submit a bid.
“I talked with other consultants that are doing work in middle Missouri, and they are hearing some of the same things,” he said. “During this recession, we have lost a number of contractors. There is a decent amount of work in the area, but bidders are few and far between.”
Because the project was over budget, the board also had to approve an amendment to the city’s budget. To make up the cost difference, the city will transfer almost $500,000 from its unrestricted reserve in the transportation fund.
“This does deplete the unrestricted reserve in the transportation fund,” said City Administrator Jeana Woods. “However, I expect by year end there will be additional savings seen in other projects or line items to replenish a small portion of the reserve.”
Lake Regional will pay about $250,000 for the hospital’s portion of the work. The remainder of the shortfall will be made up by transferring $54,000 in cost savings on the intersection work underway at Osage Beach Parkway and Barry Prewitt Drive and by transferring $100,000 budgeted for the Mace Road project, which Edelman said will not be ready for bid until next year.
Edelman said that although the project’s cost is almost $900,000 above the amount budgeted, the engineer’s estimate of the project, which was made just before it went to bid, came in at $1.8 million.
“We believe if we did reject this bid, we do not feel we would get a better bid at a later date, especially with uncertainties in the materials market,” he said.
Alderman Phyllis Marose said she wrestled with approving the high cost of the project.
“I have gone back and forth on it,” she said. “But I just think we have to have vision for the future and try to accommodate the traffic in Osage Beach, and Nichols Road is getting a lot more traffic,” she said.
Marose said a top priority for the city also is to ensure efficient access to Lake Regional Health System’s campus.
“As much as I hate to spend a lot of money, I think it’s important,” she added. “I think we’re going in the right direction.”
The project will include a roundabout and landscaping, similar to improvements to Passover Road when it was rebuilt.
In other business, the board approved:
- A special use permit for Donald Jenkins to raze a home and build a new one at 5071 Aqua Drive, which is zoned commercial.
- Several contracts and agreements for improvements at Lee C. Fine Airport, contingent upon the Federal Aviation Administration’s approval of grant funds, which will pay 90 percent of the projects’ costs.
- The reappointment of Judge William Washburn as Municipal Judge.
- A mutual aid equipment agreement between Camden County and the Public Works Department.
- The purchase of computer server equipment from Dell Inc. for $34,304, storage upgrade equipment for $21,598, and $24,053 to renew the city’s software assurance agreement with Microsoft.
