Aquatic center contracts OK’d

FORT SMITH - Costs for a joint Fort Smith/Sebastian County aquatic center project are $1.11 million less than estimated, which will allow for the addition of more or better features for the water park.

Fort Smith city directors during a special meeting Tuesday passed a resolution awarding construction contracts totaling about $6.3 million. The construction contracts and the nonbid expenses, such as site preparation, construction manager staffing, insurance, contingency and contractor fees, and $1.11 million in allowances for additional amenities, add up to a total of about $9.8million.

Sebastian County Judge David Hudson on Tuesday said he was encouraged that officials will be able to reinstate some of the features that need to be included in the facility and that the finished product will be one the people can be happy with and proud to use.

At Tuesday’s meeting, City Administrator Ray Gosack said officials could choose to add more and better shade features, an additional motor for the wave pool to produce different wave actions or more landscaping, or upgrade the canvas party pavilion to a permanent structure with a roof.

Because the project is shared by the city and county, the county also must approve the contracts. Hudson said that under state law, the quorum court approved the county’s portion of the project budget but that the county judge enters into the contracts. He said barring any change by the city directors to the proposed contract awards, he would sign the contracts for the county next week.

Plans for the aquatic center at the county’s Ben Geren Regional Park include a wave pool, a 500-foot-long lazy river, two 40-foot-tall water slides, two 30-foottall slides, a 3,600-squarefoot toddler pool and a 4,200-square-foot activity pool in a park that can accommodate 1,300 people at a time.

Dirt work has already begun at the site, and plans are for the facility to open Memorial Day 2015.

Bids on the 29-contract construction package totaled $6,267,200. The largest of the 29 contracts was for just more than $4 million to Contegra Construction of Edwardsville, Ill., for the swimming pool, water slides and accessories.

Eight contracts went to Fort Smith companies, including $339,200 to Matlock Electric Co. for the electrical work, $295,825 to Chamberlain Mechanical Inc. for the center’s plumbing, $247,000 to the Harris Company for the earthwork and $99,475 to Modern Fence Co. for fencing.

Superior Stoneworks of Alma was awarded the masonry contract for $135,399.

Eleven contracts went to Northwest Arkansas companies in Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale and Harrison. The largest, $507,356, went to Professional Concrete Specialties of Rogers for concrete work. Schefers Roofing Co. of Rogers was awarded the roofing contract for $134,593. Pianalto Construction Co. of Springdale got the rough carpentry contract with a bid of $63,200. Midwest Drywall Co. Inc. of Harrison was awarded the metal framing, drywall, insulation and PVC ceiling contract for $44,137.

Also during Tuesday’s special meeting, the city directors passed a resolution increasing Flintco Construction Solution’s construction management fee by $95,280, from $371,250 to $466,530.

City Directors George Catsavis, Philip Merry and Pam Weber voted against the resolution. Weber and Merry said they believed the construction fee was a flat fee and opposed raising it because the size of the project increased. Catsavis said he voted against the resolution because he opposed Flintco, of Springdale, being selected for the project when there were Fort Smith companies that could have been hired.

Deputy City Administrator Jeff Dingman told the directors that Flintco’s fee was based on a percentage of the project construction cost. When the company first was hired, he said, the construction cost was $7.5 million, not the current $9.8 million.