MONTEVIDEO — Montevideo City Council members awarded a $3,935,078 million bid package to develop a new public works building.
At the same meeting Monday, council members also awarded the low bid for a $5,225,000 general obligation bond. The bond funds will finance the public works project as well as the city’s 2020 street and utility improvement projects.
The firm of Piper Sandler offered the low bid of four submitted for the financing. The awarded bid carried a true interest rate of 1.618 percent, significantly below the 2.3 percent interest rate that had been estimated for the project, according to Rebecca Kurtz, bond consultant for the city with Ehlers and Associates.
The low interest rate came on the heels of a Standard & Poors bond rating for the city of AA minus. The favorable bond rating recognized that the city has maintained adequate reserves and has been fiscally responsible, Kurtz told council members.
The competitive bond market means the city has sufficient bond funds to award the full bid package for the public works building. The $3.9 million total for the project includes a $244,440 alternate bid to include an in-floor heating system in the building.
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The new public works building will be developed on city land near the Jennie-O Turkey Store further processing facility on the city’s east side. Construction could get underway in early July, according to City Manager Robert Wolfington. A timeline for the project has not yet been developed, but the city is hoping the building will be completed by the spring of 2021.
RJM Construction of Golden Valley is serving as construction manager for the project. Kodet Architects of Minneapolis is the project architect.
The city’s existing public works buildings are aged and located in the floodplain along the Minnesota River on the city’s west side. The city will maintain and possibly expand an outdoor cold storage/impound lot on this property, according to the city manager.
