Lack of bids stalls Shellmaker plan
Marisa O’Neil
They’ve got the clams, now they just need the worker bees.
The Newport Beach City Council approved funding and cooperative
agreements Tuesday for a new Back Bay Science Center on Shellmaker
Island. But the city’s first attempt to solicit bids for construction
of the $4-million environmental teaching and testing facility didn’t
make many waves.
City officials in March placed ads seeking bidders for the project
and received none at the June 8 opening date, according to staff
reports. One late bid, not considered by the city, exceeded available
funding by $1 million.
Another round of bidding will start in the next couple of months,
Asst. City Manager Dave Kiff said. The project is planned for
completion in 2005.
Part of the problem in finding a firm to do the work, Kiff said,
is that this project is competing with construction going on at
schools as a result of recently-passed bond measures.
“There is a lot of work out there [for contractors], surprisingly
-- even though the economy is down,” Kiff said. “The people who own
these [contracting] firms are doing a lot of school construction.”
Nearly all schools in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District are
undergoing major renovations under Measure A, a multi-school project
funded by local bonds and state bonds.
Summertime is especially busy for that type of construction
because most schools want work completed when students aren’t on
campus, said Bonnie Martin, a director for McCarthy Building
Companies, Inc., which is managing Measure A work.
“We literally solicit people, we call them and chase them all the
way through the bid process,” Martin said. “If you just put an ad
out, you don’t get a response.”
High steel and concrete prices, as well, make contractors more
reluctant to bid on projects, Martin said.
“Bidders would have to pledge they could do the work for the bid
price,” Kiff said. “That’s hard to do when steel prices are going all
over the place.”
The city has pledged $315,000 for the center and will cover
maintenance costs once it’s completed, Kiff said. The project is a
collaborative effort between the city, California Department of Fish
and Game, UC Irvine, Orange County, Newport Bay Naturalists and
Friends and the Coastal Commission.
Shellmaker Island, a man-made island near Newport Dunes, is
currently home to a series of trailers making up the Back Bay Science
Center. The center has two aquariums and a few microscopes for local
students to learn about the area’s ecosystem and water quality
issues, said Terry Stewart, a senior biologist for the Department of
Fish and Game.
The new facility will include a water-quality lab, wetlands and
other educational facilities.
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