The Bloomington Redevelopment Commission failed to approve four construction contracts Monday night for a new police and fire headquarters in the Showers building.
Commissioners can reintroduce a vote on $12.7 million in contracts in January under the administration of a new mayor, Kerry Thomson.
Read more: Bloomington City Council rejects sale of police station
Thomson had requested the commission postpone the decision until her administration has had the opportunity to review the bids in detail. She said at the meeting that she wanted to make sure there was proper contingency for the project, at least 10 percent of the total budget. The current contingency is around 5.5 percent.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate to engage in these contracts until we have a full picture of what the city can truly afford,” Thomson said to commissioners on Zoom.
Mayor John Hamilton weighed in, urging the commission to approve the contracts.
“I do worry about the vendors getting a signal that says, well, we're not sure this project is gonna go,” Hamilton said. “You did all that work, you did your bids, you got your best bids, and now we're just not sure if we're gonna do it.”
Read more: Thomson asks Hamilton to cease making strategic decisions for rest of term
Four contracts are on the table: SCS Construction Services, Inc. for $4,623,400, Multicraft Fire Protection for $310,500, Harrell-Fish Inc for $4,128,000 and Cassady Electric for $3,655,900. Commissioner Randy Cassady owns the latter company and recused himself from the vote.
The four remaining commissioners split the vote down the middle, with Deborah Myerson and Deb Hutton wanting to postpone and Cindy Kinnarny and Sarah Bauerle Danzman against.
The city purchased Showers West in January for $8.75 million. Deputy Mayor Larry Allen said at the meeting that the city had also spent around $640,000 on design fees.
Because the commission was unable to pass a motion to postpone, there’s no set date for the next vote. However, the bid agreements stipulate that the lowest bidders can’t withdraw before six months after the bidding opened on Dec. 11.
The next meeting of the Redevelopment Commission will be Jan. 1. The agenda for that meeting has not been released yet.
