[Ang]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2012/0...74575401256.txt

Storage building moves ahead

By Lois Tomaszewski
Staff Writer

Published: Thursday, July 12, 2012 5:07 PM CDT

MICHIGAN CITY — The Michigan City Park Board approved moving ahead with plans to build a nearly 6,000 square foot metal garage and storage building at Washington Park.

The action taken at Wednesday night’s meeting takes a request for $300,000 in funding before the Mayor and City Council. $280,000 is the estimated cost of the building, and $15,000 is the amount expected to pay for engineering fees, board attorney Jeff Katz said.

Members of the City Council’s Park and Recreation committee had previously advised the Park Board not to spend more than $150,000 on the building.

According to the bid tabulation sheet prepared by the Chesterton, Ind. architects Gerometta & Kinel, seven bids were received for the project. The low bidder was Vendramini at $280,000 and high bidder was Gariup Construction with a bid of $346,700. No contracts or bids have been awarded at this time, Katz said.

Board member Bryant Dabney said he was happy the project was on its way. He said in his opinion, the L-shaped building would be a good fit into the area and provide space for storage of park equipment and supplies, as well as for Michigan City police and fire departments.

Katz said with the storage building decision moving along, the board should start looking at renovating the old greenhouse in Washington Park into administrative offices. Structural engineering services would be required for this renovation, which may also have some historic preservation issues, as well.

The cost and design has not been determined due to the early stages of this discussion. The board is not required to advertise for bids. Katz said local architects and engineering firms are usually contacted and asked to bid, he said.

Board member Jim Powers said he would like to see the projects advertised so more firms could take part. “I would like to see everyone have an opportunity to submit bids,” Powers said.

In other action:

• Michigan City Fifth Ward Councilman Duane Parry pledged a donation of $250 from his pay as a councilman to the Washington Park Zoo. The stipulation is that the money be used to provide portable air conditioning and ventilation equipment for animals in the North American carnivores and the Safari House exhibits.

Parry said he was moved to action after visiting the zoo and observing the difficulty zoo staff has in keeping the animals cool in high temperatures.

“I am concerned about the welfare of the animals after walking through these exhibits with high temperatures and minimal ventilation in the holding cages area,” Parry said. “I understand that many of the buildings our zoo has for housing the animals are old and have limited facilities, but I consider it our responsibility as custodians of the animals in our zoo to provide them with acceptable living conditions.”

Parry also urged the park board to make improvements as soon as possible.

• The Parks department has used 12 million more gallons of water for irrigation this year than it used last year, Parks director Jan Orlich said.

• Vandalism at several park facilities is also slightly higher this year. So far, the parks department has spent $3,600 to replace or repair fixtures and remove graffiti, Orlich said.

A fixture at the Lot #1 Bath house has been broken twice, most recently days after the part was replaced. The stainless steel water fountain at Gardena Park has been stolen for the second time, the men’s restroom at Gardena has also been vandalized and a patch of grass was burnt behind the skate park area in Pullman Park.

Orlich said reports have been filed with the Michigan City Police on all incidents.

Depending on exactly where they want to put this, I'm afraid it will be unsightly...

[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2012/0...74575401256.txt
Depending on exactly where they want to put this, I'm afraid it will be unsightly...

I'm more upset that the bids came in at double what they expected, and instead of doing something about it, they just rubber stamped it. The Park board is seeming more and more like the school board lately.

[Ang]

I also noticed that there are no local contractors listed.... Did they even talk to Larson-Danielson or J. Schoffner?

[Southsider2k12]

I also noticed that there are no local contractors listed.... Did they even talk to Larson-Danielson or J. Schoffner?

I'm sure they knew about it.

[MC Born & Raised]

Perhaps this is too simplistic a view ... however, what we SHOULD be doing is putting bars and restaurants and things to draw people in for that area, and instead we're building a 6,000 square foot storage facility. That'll have them lining up.

I understand we're talking about different entities here, but I'm having a hard time believing this is the best place for something like this.

[Southsider2k12]

I think you could do some of that stuff, if it were done carefully. Take somewhere like Central Park in NYC as an example. Built into the contours of the landscape and complementary to what sits up there already you could add some modern touches, which could also serve to make a little money for Michigan City. Sell t-shirts, suntan lotion, and crap like that. A place to eat and/or drink would also be nice.

[eric.hanke]

I think you could do some of that stuff, if it were done carefully. Take somewhere like Central Park in NYC as an example. Built into the contours of the landscape and complementary to what sits up there already you could add some modern touches, which could also serve to make a little money for Michigan City. Sell t-shirts, suntan lotion, and crap like that. A place to eat and/or drink would also be nice.

Agreed...

[Ang]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2012/0...a6618006095.txt

Parks' storage garage project will not be re-bid despite mistake

By Lois Tomaszewski
Staff Writer

Published: Tuesday, July 17, 2012 5:06 PM CDT

MICHIGAN CITY — The bids submitted for constructing an almost 6,000-square-foot storage garage at Washington Park will stand, despite an error early in the process.

"I made a mistake," Park Board attorney Jeffrey Katz said.

In a letter to the Parks Board and members of the Michigan City Common Council, Melissa L. Binetti, attorney for the Indiana-Illinois-Iowa Foundation for Fair Contracting, wrote: "Indiana code requires an awarding agency to set up a committee to determine common construction wage rates prior to advertising for the contract. It is our understanding the Parks & Recreation department did not hold a common construction wage hearing until June 6, nearly a month after the bids were due."

Not including a common construction wage schedule in the bid specifications for the project prompted the letter, which was dated July 13. Bids were due in May. Katz said he held a construction meeting to determine prevailing wage in June and the low bidder has agreed to pay based on that pay schedule, Katz said.

After consulting with the state, Katz said it was not necessary to rebid the project.

"The low bidder is a union shop," he explained. "They pay prevailing wages and will pay based on the wage schedule established at the June meeting."

While the III FFC would like the project rebid, Katz said an attorney with the State Department of Revenue said that as long as the low bidder agrees to abide by the schedule, the project does not have to be rebid.

"If the low bidder had said no, we would have to reject the bids and rebid the project," Katz said. He is awaiting a second and third opinion from the other Board of Works attorney John Espar and City Council attorney James Meyer.

[Ang]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2012/0...83199143889.txt

Council reverses parks decision, says project must be re-bid

By Lois Tomaszewski
Staff Writer

Published: Wednesday, July 18, 2012 5:07 PM CDT

MICHIGAN CITY – The 6,000-square-foot storage building proposed for Washington Park that the Michigan City Parks and Recreation Board recently approved and passed to the city council is in limbo, after the council voted their intentions to amend the resolution and rebid the project.

Speaking against the project because of a bidding process that the Indiana-Illinois-Iowa Foundation for Fair Contracting claims did not follow the law, compliance monitor Marcella Kunstek told the board that a local contractor, the second lowest bidder, may have been hampered by the lack of a wage scale document in the bidding specifications package.

“Vendramini Construction was the lowest bidder for the project at $280,000; following Larson Danielson at $290,000,” Kunstek said. “The difference between the bids was $10,000 which could indeed be the wages, which were not included in the bid package.”

State law requires that a wage scale be determined before a project is let out for bid, Kunstek said. This was not done.

Parks Board Attorney Jeff Katz said he made a mistake in not holding the wage scale hearing until after bids were received. According to Katz, as long as the low bidder agrees to abide by the wage scale approved in June, the project can proceed.

Kunstek said this does not follow state law. “We have a structured bidding law in place for a reason,” she said, “to eliminate fraud, favoritism or unfair dealings. When you take things out of sequence, we question the entire process.”

After her comments, all nine council members voted their intention to amend the appropriations request for $300,000 for the project. This is to be done at the second reading slated for Aug. 7 council meeting. In the motion made by Donald Przybylinski, the board will request that the project be rebid before considering the funding request.

“The number one reason is that it was not done according to law,” Przybyinski said.

Park Board president Phil Freese was in attendance and told the council that his board had no problem rebidding the project.

“We still have ample time to rebid and have the building constructed before the season is over,” Freese said.

The need for the storage building, which will be located on the north side of Washington Park in the same location as the existing storage facility, was also criticized by council members. President Marc Espar said the park department’s master plan had no indication that storage was a priority.

“There is no mention that we have outgrown current storage,” he said.

Instead, the plan indicates that Washington Park needed to be reclaimed for use by the public, not filled up with government owned buildings.

Councilman Chris Schwanke chastised the Parks Department for what he termed disrespect and negligence, when looking at the condition of the existing building that is on track to be torn down to make way for the new one. Among the problems he mentioned were vinyl siding falling off the building and light fixtures in disrepair.

“There is no reason for it to be in the condition it is in,” Schwanke said.

Councilman Duane Parry said he would support the storage building but was “finding it difficult to be enthusiastic” about it. “I strongly believe the objective could have been achieved at a much lower cost that it looks like the city is going to incur,” he said.

Parry said the council wanted to see what the cost would be to repair the existing structures and wanted a plan that looked at a smaller size building.

“The total currently used square footage of the existing building and the requested fire and police department storage do not add up to the 6,000 square footage of storage space the new building design provides,” Parry said.

In other action:

• Greg Tuel, a resident and representative of the Krueger Neighborhood Association, asked the council to make sure that quality of life issues be considered when reviewing plans for the proposed realignment of the South Shore Line. He said the process by which the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District had conducted meetings regarding the six proposed options was less than fully transparent.

“I feel most decisions have been made behind closed doors,” Tuel said.

With the proposed realignment taking a northern turn near the outlet mall, waterfront and casino areas, Tuel said the neighborhood was concerned about congestion, as well as the potential that property values would be adversely affected.

• The board approved a resolution appropriating funding to reinstate a street department driver position. Espar said this is not a new position but funds one in which the employee retired.

• The ordinance to rescind Michigan City’s ethics ordinance to be replaced with a state nepotism law was approved by the council. The state law addresses the issues in what council members previously indicated was flawed with problems.

[Southsider2k12]

Ugh. Can we replace the Park Board? Please?

[eric.hanke]

Ugh. Can we replace the Park Board? Please?

And The School Board and Sanitation District Board too???

[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2012/0...88078170696.txt

Re-bid on park board storage building is a good idea

Published: Thursday, July 19, 2012 5:07 PM CDT
A decision by the Michigan City Common Council to override the park board about the bidding process on a new park storage building was a good one.

Park board officials attribute the entire issue to a mistake. In a letter to the parks board and common council members, the Indiana-Illinois-Iowa Foundation for Fair Contracting pointed out that Indiana code requires a contract awarding agency to set up a committee to determine common construction wage rates prior to advertising for a contract. The park department failed to do this for its planned storage building, conducting the hearing June 6, nearly a month after the bids were due.

Although board attorney Jeff Katz said it was his mistake, the parks board elected not to rebid after consulting with the state, because the low bidder on the project had agreed to pay based on the prevailing wage in June.

However, the council took a different view. The foundation pointed out that a local contractor, the second lowest bidder, may have been hampered by the lack of a wage scale document in the bidding specifications package, and that the difference between the two bids could have been the wages.

Click here to find out more!
We agree with foundation spokeswoman Marcella Kunstek, who told council members that the state of Indiana has a structured bidding law in place for a reason, to eliminate fraud, favoritism or unfair dealings.

The foundation was right to question the process in this bidding procedure and the council should be commended for starting the process over. This way, all potential bidders are starting on a level playing field and the city is staying within the law.

[eric.hanke]

And The School Board and Sanitation District Board too???

And Jeff Katz...

[Southsider2k12]

The storage building was voted down by the Council 5-4.