It’s ‘back to the drawing board’ for aquatic facility, skatepark

To paraphrase Illinois Senator Everett Dirksen, “a million here, a million there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money.”

That’s what Sallisaw is facing with its proposed aquatic facility and skateboard park.

The problem is that while Sallisaw has millions earmarked for the project, it doesn’t have as many millions as contractors believe are needed to complete the combined venue at North Elm Street and Redwood Avenue.

So the city commissioners are regrouping — and sending the project out for rebidding.

At Monday’s monthly meeting, the city commissioners rejected bids from Aug. 21 submitted by MGS Construction, Sallisaw, for $7,097,484.33, and Myers Cherry Construction, Broken Arrow, for $7,594,589.10, for the aquatic facility.

SEE As Sallisaw City Manager Keith Skelton told the commissioners, “both bids were significantly over the amount of funding available for the pool and skateboard park projects.” The city has $5,950,000 allotted for the projects.

“The bids on the pool were not what we had anticipated, both the quantity of the bids, as far as the number of bids, and the bid numbers that came in, too. We’ve went through two rounds of bidding so far. The first round [in June] resulted in no bids. The second round of bids [in August] drew two bids, and they were both significantly over the amount of funding that we have available for both projects. So, in essence, we were about $2 million over funding that we have available. [The bids] exceeded the architect’s estimate greatly,” Skelton told the commissioners.

With the bids being in excess of the funding available for the projects, city staff has reviewed the pool design with PDG, the city’s architect. Several changes to the bid have been identified, which are expected to result in significant cost savings. Among the changes proposed is the elimination of landscaping items, elimination of the dive tank and having city crews perform the demolition of the existing facility.

In addition, the city is considering issuing two bids in the future — one for the buildings, and one bid for the pool/splash pad and equipment. It is believed these changes, along with others that can be made, will make funding the project more manageable.

The new bid plan is to advertise and issue bids in December, then open bids in January. The targeted construction start date is February or March 2024. Construction is expected to take a year, with an opening for the park by Memorial Day 2025.

When the city launched its quest for the new aquatic facility and skatepark in April 2022, the estimated cost for the pool and splash pad was about $5 million, with an additional estimated cost of $700,000 for the skatepark.

“We’ll go back to the drawing board and make some adjustments,” Skelton said. “We’ve already had one follow-up meeting with PDG, and we’ve already identified several changes that we can do to the next round of pool bids. These changes will have some alterations for the project itself, but nothing that would be really significant. The only thing really of significance as far as the design would be elimination of the dive tank at this time, with plans to put that back in in the future. [Eliminating] the dive tank is estimated to reduce the amount by close to a half million dollars. Other items we’ve considered is we can reduce the height of the big slides, the city can perform the demolition of the existing pool — that’s close to $300,000.”

Ward 3 Commissioner Julian Mendiola expressed a preference for keeping the dive tank, but Skelton countered by telling him “there’s some liability with having a dive tank. There’s a lot of cities with new pools, they’re not installing dive tanks anymore. We’re gonna do everything we can to try to get the pool as it’s designed right now. We can still do changes and still keep what’s designed now. We’ve got some funding ideas that don’t add any additional debt. We’re actively looking at everything we can do. If there’s a way we can save the dive tank or make adjustments to it, then we will do that.”

In June 2022, the city commissioners unanimously approved naming the new swimming complex the Stanley H. Collins Aquatic Center. Collins, now 94, managed Sallisaw’s first swimming pool for more than 25 years, and taught hundreds of children how to swim.

In September 2022, Keith Miller, director of building development for the city, told commissioners that city staff had met with PDG to discuss plans for the aquatic facility. Soil testing and the boundary survey were complete, which allowed PDG to proceed with the design process. The next meeting was to have been with the plans were 65% completed.

But in the face of the financial challenge, the city is going back to the drawing board in its approach to the project.

Other business

In other business, the commissioners approved an amendment to a work order to Garner Engineering for grant administration assistance and construction administration services for the Sallisaw Municipal Airport taxiway and apron crack seal and seal coat project. This is the second amendment to the work order, and corrects specifics within the first amendment. No additional financial liability or funding is associated with the amendment.

Commissioners also approved a change order for the Sallisaw Police Department exterior project in the amount of $2,405.28. The change is needed due to the restructuring of the overhead door to increase the height to eight feet to allow vehicles to drive through. Saw cutting and grinding of existing concrete is also included. The change increases the total contract to $432,654.28.

The following purchase orders were also approved:

• Dunn Ford of Stigler in the amount of $51,400 for the purchase of a 2022 F250XL work truck with utility bed for the water/ sewer department. The 2022 truck will replace a 2005 utility truck currently being used. The 2005 truck will be retained for use during advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) installation in the next year. Harry Robinson, Sallisaw, and Rhodes Chevrolet, Van Buren, were also given the opportunity to bid, but neither had the specified vehicle in stock.

• Dunn Ford of Stigler in the amount of $50,900 for the purchase of a 2021 F250XL work truck for the water/sewer department. The 2021 truck — a used vehicle with 18,275 miles — will free up an older F250 to be used by animal control. Blue Ribbon Chevrolet, Sallisaw, submitted a bid of $47,137 for a 2020 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD with 57,976 miles, and Harry Robinson, Sallisaw, was also given the opportunity to bid, but did not have a vehicle in stock.

• Ditch Witch of Tulsa in the amount of $45,580 for the purchase of a Ditchwitch SK900 skid steer for the tree trimming division. The SK900 will allow for better handling of logs and safer handling while performing tree-trimming tasks. The unit is equipped with a bucket, forks and a log grapple.

• Scott Equipment of Springdale in the amount of $30,500 for the purchase of a 2023 Kobelco excavator for the water/ sewer department. The 2023 excavator will replace a current mini-excavator, which will be moved to the parks department, and both machines will be used during the installation of the AMI meters.

• Arkansas Golf and Powersports of NWA, Fayetteville, in the amount of $9,941.75 for a 2023 Cushman hauler 1200 EFI gas for use at Brushy Lake. The Cushman will replace a golf cart currently being used, that is worn out and in need of replacement.

The board then entered into executive session to discuss the purchase of real property. Upon the board’s return to open session, the commissioners approved a motion “to let the city manager pursue what was discussed in executive session.” Josh Bailey was the only dissenting vote.

Administrative report

Skelton told the commissioners that city staff is reviewing data and preparing to inventory all water service lines in the city’s distribution system. He said it is a mandated requirement of the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ), and is due Oct. 16, 2024. During this inventory, city staff will have to identify any lead or galvanized service lines, both on the city’s side of the meter and on the customer’s side. For the inventory, all data will be entered into a spreadsheet and sorted by service addresses.

City staff and its consultant are also reviewing new regulations concerning wetlands and streams. These new rules affect the city’s Phase II landfill expansion.

City staff continues to evaluate advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) vendors and their request for proposal (RFP) responses to the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA).

Skelton also previewed an item on the Sallisaw Municipal Authority agenda for the emergency repair of a sludge valve at the wastewater treatment plant. “The valve is about 15 feet deep, and we are more comfortable having a contractor complete this repair,” Skelton said. “In addition to the repairs, we will also construct a vault to make future repairs much easier. The valve must be operational, as it is instrumental to the proper operation of the plant in producing and treating sludge.”

Sallisaw Municipal Authority

In its meeting immediately following the city commissioners’ meeting, the SMA board discussed municipal landfill activities and future needs of the facility. The board also received an update from Skelton regarding the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The final 2023 Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) Rule has been issued and was revised to include the Supreme Court’s Sackett case ruling. The rule will become effective upon publication in the Federal Register, Skelton told the board. Once published, the Corps of Engineers will begin issuing Approved Jurisdictional Determinations, which will include Sallisaw’s submittal. The schedule for receiving a determination and what will be determined is still unknown. “We still expect to perform some type of mitigation before we can proceed with Phase II of the landfill,” Skelton said.

Skelton told the board that discussions and planning for methane collection with Northern Biogas at the landfill are proceeding well. “They are proceeding at a very fast pace on all tasks associated with the project,” Skelton said.

He also said the city continues to finalize estimated costs and construction plans for Cell 8A.

The SMA also approved purchase orders for:

• Techline Inc. of Cleveland, Okla., in an amount not to exceed $40,000 for the purchase of materials for the South Cedar electric line extension. The line will supply electricity for the future addition that will be constructed by INSU Inc.

• RW & Son Pipeline Construction of Fort Smith in the amount of $26,450 for emergency repair of a sludge valve and installation of a concrete vault at the wastewater treatment plant. The sludge valve recently failed, and city crews are unable to repair or operate the valve. The valve is approximately 15 feet below ground, and requires excavation for repair. A concrete vault will be constructed around the valve, allowing easier access for any future issues.

• Calix in an amount not to exceed $100,000 for the purchase of Calix equipment for telecommunications, which will be used for the continuing network upgrade, replacing older equipment that is nearing end of life.

The next meeting for the city commissioners and the SMA is 6 p.m. Oct. 9 in the City Council Chambers, 113 N. Elm Street.