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Tonganoxie City Council approves Topeka firm for City Hall, police station work

By Shawn Linenberger - | Mar 22, 2016

The Tonganoxie City Council has selected a Topeka construction company to do renovations to Cornerstone Family Worship for a new police station and the former Tan Time for a new City Hall.

The council approved, 4-1, the low bid of The Osborne Company Inc. at $592,900, with alternate additions of $9,200 for City Hall windows and $6,000 for police shower.

That puts the project at $608,100.

Other bids came from BA Green, RF Benchmark, Riley Company and the Wilson Group. The other base bids came within about $38,000 of Osborne. The highest was BA Green at $631,000, and the lowest among other bidders was Riley Company at $604,200.

Marissa Carroll with HTK Architects, the city’s architectural firm for the projects, said the low bid came in about 3 percent above the the bid estimate. According to her numbers, a 5 percent margin of error can be expected when estimating future construction costs.

She noted that the company’s owner formerly served in law enforcement in Lawrence and the superintendent for the police station project formerly served as a corrections officer.

The company is working with HTK on another project and has done a wide range of projects, including churches, Alco stores, Abilene Library renovations and manufacturing buildings.

The Council also approved, 4-1, a contract with B&R Insulation of Lenexa to remove asbestos from the former Tan Time, which previously was a U.S. Post Office. Assistant City Manager Jamie Shockley said that contract was for $5,768 and already had been budgeted into the City Hall project.

Finally, the City Council approved giving City Manager Nathan McCommon authority to purchase furnishings of up to $20,000 for the new police station and $30,000 for the new City Hall.

Council Member Jim Truesdell gave the dissenting vote in all of the votes involving the City Hall and police station projects.

Truesdell has been an avid proponent of new city hall and police facilities instead of repurposing existing buildings.

Fourth Street work approved

Fourth Street will be getting a facelift.

Kent Heskett, public works superintendent, recommended Monday that the Council approve milling and overlay of Fourth Street from U.S. Highway 24-40 to Pleasant Street by contractor and asphalt work from Fourth Street to the bridge on Fourth Street by city crews.

Heskett said the current surface is failing and this would be the first such improvement since the renovations to Fourth Street in the early 2000s.

The special highway fund has an appropriation of $125,536, with the project expected to cost $122,000. Heskett also requested purchasing authority of up to $20,000 to cover asphalt and related materials for city crews’ portion of work.

In other business, the Council:

• Approved, 5-0, a special use permit for an in-home child day care at 406 E. Sixth St. Rachel Rhoads submitted the request.

• Discussed the Tonganoxie Sesquicentennial. Council Member Kara Reed said progress continued on organizing the event, with a few entertainment slots still to be filled. Council Member Andy Gilner asked where the three stages would be located. Reed said one stage would be near Mutual Savings, a second in the pocket park at Fourth and Delaware streets and the main stage in Gallagher Park near Tonganoxie Water Park. Gilner commended the selection of the Gallagher Park area for the stage. Bill Peak inquired about how many vendors had signed up so far. Reed said there were about 15 so far, but that organizers were going to be focusing on attracting more vendors.

• Had a second reading for an ordinance that would help in keeping long-term vehicle parking on Urban Hess Business Center streets. Semi-trucks and the like historically have parked on the streets, which has caused damage to the streets over time. Business owners in the area thanked the council for addressing a situation they said has been an issue for several years.