River Architects will be the builder of the library addition and expansion, following two special council meetings over four days by the Stanley City Council.
At the first meeting Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in City Hall, the Stanley City Council voted to rescind its contract with River Architects, previously approved on March 3, awaiting comparative bid numbers with CBS Squared.
At the second meeting, held March 10 at City Hall and also at 5:30 p.m., the council opted to go with River Architects, for a contract price of $300,000.
“Time is of the essence,” Mayor Mike Henke said March 6 of the reason for why the special meeting was being held as opposed to waiting until later in March. Motion to rescind the contract with River Architects was made by Alderperson Mark Fitzsimmons and seconded by Alderperson Ben Wald.
Following the vote to rescind contract, the council’s next item called to approve or disapprove a proposal for Architectural and Engineering Services by D.R. Moon Public Library Renovation and Expansion. The item led to discussion and a vote to seek “apples to apples” comparative bid quotes, with Henke sharing the rationale.
“In front of you in the packets, the first page is a summary, is the scoring from committee,” he said of project bids by River Architects and CBS Squared. “The second item is past performance. River Architects had a design contract that was overspent by $34,000. CBS Squared, the city hasn’t had any issues with any of their contracts.”
Henke’s claim was later contended with by IFLS Library System Director John Thompson, who said that River Architects had permission from the library board to proceed with work beyond the initial contract and that the library board has the statutory authority to expend library funds as they determine. As such there had been no $34,000 over expenditure by River Architects.
Also among issues listed by Henke were a list of comparative items between the two firms.
More specifically, a highlight survey not included in River Architects bid was quoted by CBS Squared at $4,000, while geotechnical services listed as not provided by River were quoted by CBS Squared for $5,000. Included in list of comparative summary items as well were material, civil engineering, and site business and construction.
As for site business and construction, River Architects proposed to be on site biweekly while CBS Squared would be there weekly, a difference of 24 visits by River to 52 visits by CBS Squared.
Alderperson Jason Meyer sought clarification from Henke.
“So Mike, you’re thinking the CBS Squared contacts provide more services we need than the River one?” he asked.
“Yes,” Henke said. “If they’re only on site every other week that means someone from the city, that probably falls on me, is going to have to be the watchdog for that.” More site visits were perceived as better for the city.
“And then the survey,” Henke said. “We’ve got to have it surveyed because we’ve got to put the two parcels together. One includes that, one doesn’t. Soil borings have to be done.”
The contract approved Monday couldn’t be signed because it had a lot of work to be done, while the city was seeking “apples to apples” comparisons on items between the two companies. There was a cost to take the route as contemplated, however.
““It will put things out at least another month,” City Administrator Nicole Pilgrim said of the need to competitively procure services for the surveying and civil engineering.
Potentially at stake in extending the process further out was the $4.137 million state grant secured last October. In order for the library to qualify for the state grant, construction must start by July 1, 2025, “construction” defined as having a job trailer on site and a construction company under contract. The city earlier approved a $500,000 loan at the Feb. 17 council meeting to ensure project start time while awaiting grant funds dispersal.
Sharing their concerns at the March 6 special council meeting were D.R. Moon Library Director Elizabeth Miniatt and IFLS Library System Director John Thompson.
“So that actually is a separate line item in the grant,” Miniatt said in response to questions on the civil engineering and surveying services needed for the project. “Outside of architecture and engineering. Those are covered with grant funds but need to be competitively procured. So, it is a separate piece in our grant funding.” Henke responded that if a line item in the grant budget comes under budget then the city could request to move the funds from one line item to another and Miniatt agreed that was the case.
Asked by Alderperson Laurie Foster for her thoughts on the two firms Miniatt said, “I am always thinking about the timeline. I’m not confident with being able to get the timeline without River.” Foster agreed, noting that going with CBS Squared would be akin to starting from scratch, and this wouldn’t work with the deadlines imposed by the grant.
Thompson followed Miniatt with his concerns.
“Can I say something about the two firms?” he asked. “The two firms are distinctly different in the services they provide. So CBS Squared is an architectural and engineering firm. Primarily an engineering firm with architects. River has no engineering component to them, they are only an architectural staff. They subcontract with other engineering firms to do all of those engineering pieces. They’ll have civil engineers, they’ll have structural engineers, they have all those folks that they work with.”
Foster spoke up to say that River Architects had done several libraries, while Thompson noted that libraries have special humidity and other concerns when built. CBS Squared has not built a library, it was shared.
Raised for concern at the meeting but then allayed was a library design contract with River in 2023. Because separate line items had to be competitively procured it was thought this could cause problems with River also being the builder. Miniatt said the grant people had been aware of River’s involvement with design and had said that it was OK as long as the design contract had ended when the bidding started. The bidding started in 2024, whereas the contract for library design ended in 2023. The OK from the grant side was in writing, communication done via email.
With more council discussion following, a motion was made by Fitzsimmons and seconded Wald to ask River to include all things not included in their original contract bid and for CBS Squared to give a bid quote for if things it had included were not.
“I want to see that they’re in the ballpark,” Fitzsimmons said of each firm’s bid. “That’s the only fair way to do it, because otherwise we’re not comparing the same things at all.”
Also covered at the March 6 special council meeting were two additional items, one to approve a road design contract with CBS Squared for a new road to lead west off Janicki Road in the city’s industrial park and another to approve going out for bids on farmland rental agreements for property owned by the city that it was looking to farm again.
Motion to approve the $179,836 road design contract was made by Fitzsimmons and seconded by Foster, motion and second repeated by Fitzsimmons and Foster for seeking farmland rental bids.
Motion to adjourn the special council meeting was made by Foster and seconded by Wald.
Following the March 6 special meeting, a second special council meeting was convened March 10, to review revised estimates from River Architects and CBS Squared.
The quote from CBS Squared for $318,000 while that for River Architects came in at $300,000 for the D.R. Moon Public Library Renovation and Expansion. Henke explained that, following the special Council meeting on March 6th, requests for comparisons were sent to both firms. Henke noted that CBS Squared submitted a proposal to match River Architects on Friday, while River Architects did not provide a recent proposal on time. He added that River Architects’ latest proposal, priced at $300,000, did not include weekly project site inspections, geotechnical work, or surveying.
“They didn’t give us what we asked for,” Henke commented.
After a brief discussion, all Council members agreed to continue with River Architects, citing River Architect’s experience with library projects in other areas and the significant time already invested in the D.R. Moon Memorial Library Building project.
“I would support choosing River,” said Meyer.
“I don’t think we should switch at this point,” remarked Alderperson Josh Seidl. “We’re this far in.”
“Close enough,” added Wald.
With members of the Library Board in attendance, the Council approved the proposal from River Architects for $300,000 to provide Architectural & Engineering Services for the D.R. Moon Public Library Renovation and Expansion.