Marion Streetscape project to be rebid

BY DAN KEGLEY
Staff

Marion’s Streetscape II development is on hold pending rebidding after a contractor’s low bid for the project and other projected costs exceeded money available for the work by $76,825.
The town council voted Tuesday to advertise again for construction bids when the low bid, submitted by Inland Construction, came in at $458,860. With other costs including an architectural contract and administrative fees charged by Mount Rogers Planning District and the Virginia Department of Transportation, total project cost was $620,079.
With available funding and local contribution amounting to a budget of $543,254, the town found itself in late June $76,825 short.
Marion Community Development Director Ken Heath told the council one option is applying for more funding from VDOT, but that move would add at least another year to the project. The town could also pay the difference or just drop the project.
Alternately, creation of an attractive corridor connecting downtown to the parking deck and the Wayne Henderson School of Music and Art proposed for the 1908 school building could be delayed to allow the town to proceed with improvements to the lighting and appearance of downtown that merchants have been expecting for years, Heath said.
Heath said in an e-mail Wednesday the town is working with Spectrum Design Architect Bill Huber “to develop a new cost estimate and bid package that will be divided into a base [plus] alternate to allow as much of the project to be accomplished as possible at this time. We are also asking Aaron Sizemore with the Mount Rogers PDC to apply for the additional funding with the fall grant cycle to complete the project next spring.”
Heath said he will present new projected figures to the council at its July 18 meeting. If council approves, he said, he expects to submit rebid documents to VDOT for its review by the end of July.
“As quickly as VDOT can review and approve these, we anticipate rebidding the project and hopefully mobilizing the initial phase by late summer,” Heath said.
dkegley@wythenews.com