The wooden bison herd will need to migrate as the Glenwood Springs City Council has awarded Gould Construction the Sixth and Laurel streets roundabout landscaping project.
At its regularly scheduled Aug. 15 meeting, council directed city staff to negotiate with the local contractor in an attempt to bring the project’s price tag down to a palatable amount.
Previously, Gould Construction – the project’s only bidder – had bid $1.1 million for the work. However, following value engineering that cost dropped to a little over $647,000. The addition of electrical hardwiring brought that total to $689,143, a price city council unanimously approved at its Sept. 5 meeting.
“We didn’t do a real thorough comparison between the before and after,” said Mayor Pro Tem Shelley Kaup. “We kind of trusted staff to make some decisions on that.”
The final plan calls for the installation of red twig dogwoods, perennial flowers, blue avena grass and Colorado buff boulders into the central roundabout. The project also includes the addition of elm, maple, oak and hackberry trees as well as Colorado spruce, dwarf Montgomery spruce, Japanese lilac trees and sod into the roundabout’s nearby islands.
Currently, mulch and a bison herd constructed from recycled wooden pallets inhabit the Sixth and Laurel roundabout area; an area many refer to as “the entrance to Glenwood.”
“It doesn’t look good,” said Councilor Tony Hershey. “We have to do something there.”
Although no official start date has been finalized, Gould Construction may begin work on the landscaping project as early as next week according to City Engineer Terri Partch.
“[Gould] will try and go through mid-November and then will probably be back out there as early in the spring as the snow allows,” Partch said of the project’s timeline.
Partch estimated the spring work to take less than a month and said the entire project would “definitely” see completion before next summer.
One significant line item in the original $1.1 million dollar plan that was omitted in the updated proposal included over $100,000 worth of lighting installation.
“We did have a public comment about using solar installation for a source of electricity,” said Councilor Paula Stepp. “It would’ve been a great opportunity for us to have looked at that ahead of time but at this point I am just glad the number went down closer to what was budgeted.”
Although the original lighting schematics were excluded from the final plan, Partch said holiday lighting would remain intact.
According to a staff report, the project’s cost does fall within the city’s budgeted amount for the landscaping project. Additionally, the city’s Acquisitions and Improvements (A&I) account will serve as the project’s primary funding source.
“We are spending money but those funds really pay for themselves in sales tax revenue over time,” said Councilor Charlie Willman. “I don’t see this as an expenditure, I see this as an investment into the future of the city.”