The Daily O’Collegian

The Stillwater city council voted to delay making a decision about whether to accept a contract for construction on University Avenue.

The contract is a joint contract with OSU.

Allen Contracting was the only company to submit a bid and the price was higher than expected.

The contract was for construction on University Avenue from Monroe Street to Knoblock Street.

The council will consider the issue again at the meeting on March 17.

The Board of Regents is expected to vote on March 7.

Allen Contracting did the bridge replacement on Highway 51 this past summer as well as the construction on 6th Avenue and Western Road.

The reason for the price increase was the time constraints of finishing the project during the summer and before football season and because of a high number of Oklahoma Department of Transportation contracts currently available, said Ralph Kinder, public works director.

The city’s part was more than $1 million higher than expected, while the university’s part was more than $422,000 higher than expected.

The university could eliminate three parts of the project to lower the cost without affecting the quality, said Mike Buchert, director of long range planning at OSU.

The first part is not requiring a replacement of a sewer line that runs from the Bartlett Chapel to Washington.

The second part would remove decorative concrete intersections at Monroe, Washington and Hester.

The third part would eliminate a center median in front of Jefferson.

Kinder recommended the council either accept the bid or re-bid the project.

However, if the city chooses to re-bid there are several risks.

There could be no bids for the project, the price could increase even further and the construction timetable could be delayed, Kinder said.

Mayor Roger McMillian said he wanted to consider other options, such as, split the project into two parts or extend the deadline to October 1 or 15.

Buchert said the university would be open to extending the deadline to Oct. 11 because it would still have construction complete a week before homecoming.

He said another option the university would be open is to re-bid the project and begin construction in January 2009 and have it completed by July 25.

If the city chooses to re-bid the contract, construction on phase one may be delayed.

Phase one involves reconstruction on the upper-level Hester Street exit to the Student Union parking garage. It is set to begin on April 14 and be completed by May 4.

Phase one must be substantially complete before phases two and three begin, according to the contract.

Phase two involves construction on the Monroe and Washington intersection and construction from the west side of the Hester intersection through the Knoblock intersection. Sidewalks and crosswalks for the entire length of the project are also included in phase two.

Phase two cannot begin on or before May 5 and must be completed by Aug. 17, according to the contract.

Phase three involves roadway improvements between Monroe and Hester, excluding the Washington intersection, and the remainder of the project.

Phase three must be completed on or before Sept. 5, according to the contract.

City Manager Dan Galloway said the city could split the project into two parts and re-bid half the project or re-bid the whole project with the option to not include Washington to Monroe.

He said this would give the city different options to consider before the 60-day deadline to accept or reject the current bid.