Garden City on Monday approved a time-and-materials contract for carpentry work at the cityfire station renovation and set a $75,000 not-to-exceed cap to limit exposure on unknowns in the scope.

Chief Keane, the fire departmentchief, told the council the original bids had been submitted incorrectly against the requested bid format and the project was reissued. "What you have before you tonight is the carpentry bid for the bid pack 1 of the fire station renovation," Chief Keane said, describing the recommendation to award the work to Multi Construction Services of Walled Lake as the lowest responsible bidder under hourly labor and materials pricing.

The motion to award was made by Council member Hughes and supported by Council member King. Council members pressed staff on the potential total cost because the bid is structured by hours and materials rather than a fixed sum. Council member King asked, "I was wondering if would be appropriate to put a cap on it," reflecting a widely shared concern that an open-ended time-and-materials contract could grow if unknown conditions are uncovered when demolition begins.

Chief Keane and the project management staff said uncertainty stems from what will be revealed once existing roofing and finishes are opened: "once they start removing some of the stuff that was done, they're not sure, necessarily what's entailed once they get in there." Council members noted the original lump-sum bid submitted earlier had been $160,000 and that the project manager estimated the realistic costs to be roughly a quarter of that figure.

After additional discussion about the need to avoid delays before winter, the council amended the award to include a $75,000 cap and approved the contract 7-0. The motion as amended authorizes the city to proceed on a time-and-materials basis to the cap; if work approaches the cap, council expects staff to return for additional authorization so the project will not be delayed.

The contract awards materials at cost plus a 25% materials surcharge as described in the bid and relies on the cityproject manager to oversee the work and limit unnecessary costs. The councilvote was recorded as 7-0 in favor.