Bids in for conference center project
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No Comments [ Add Comment ]By Bryon Saxton & Shane Farver
Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau
bsaxton@standard.net
F
ARMINGTON -- Davis County commissioners will choose between two bids for the expansion of the Davis Conference Center.
Clerk/Auditor Steve Rawlings opened bids Tuesday from R&O Construction and Ascent Construction Inc. for the expansion project.
Centerville-based Ascent Construction had the low bid of $7,633,000 for the expansion. Ogden-based R & O Construction bid $8,012,152 for the project.
Davis County authorized bond debt up to $9 million to finance the project.
In addition to those initial bids, the companies also provided alternative bids for replacing the flooring in the existing conference center.
Commission Chairman Alan Hansen said the bonds will only pay for the expansion and the flooring money would have to come from elsewhere.
"We'll just have to see how it all fleshes out," he said.
Absent were the bids of other construction companies, including Sahara Construction Co., that built the conference center in 2004.
"They all said they're too busy," said Wilf Sommerkorn, director of community and economic development.
Still, Sommerkorn said, the bids the county received are good.
The opening of the bids is just one more step in the process of the expansion coming to fruition.
The Layton Planning Commission on March 27 unanimously approved a conditional-use permit for the phase-two expansion of the Davis Conference Center.
The permit allows for the expansion of the center to meet with the city's land-use zone for that area, said Peter Matson, Layton long-range planner.
The city is now waiting for the county's architect to schedule a preconstruction meeting to bring together contractors and subcontractors with city and county officials, he said.
"This will be a pretty large meeting," Matson said.
The county could do a "ceremonial groundbreaking" for the expansion prior to that meeting, Matson said. The preconstruction meeting will need to take place before construction work can actually begin at the site, he said.
The groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for 2 p.m. April 11.
Layton Mayor Steve Curtis said the city will waive for the county all city fees associated with the project.
It prevents double taxing of county residents, Curtis said.
The city with this project will waive about $175,000 in permit fees.
Layton also will spend $50,000 on pedestrian walkways for the site, he said.
City leaders are looking forward to the expansion and the increased economic success it will add to the city's economic prosperity, Curtis said.
Commissioners are expected to award the construction contract during next week's council meeting.
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