The Warrensburg City Council has rejected bids for a roundabout project at Hawthorne Boulevard and Business Highway 13.

On Monday night, Council heard from Warrensburg Public Works Director Marvin Coleman, who recommended the rejection based on the fact that the project cost currently exceeds TDD funding.

A TDD, or Transportation Development District, is a political subdivision of the state of Missouri, designed to facilitate specific public transportation improvements through the collection of taxes and the borrowing of funds. The revenue of a TDD (most frequently sales tax) can only be used for public transportation and transportation-related improvements.

The project is funded through the TDD with presently a total budget of $1,000,000. The cost of engineering services for the project is $195,816.00. This brings the total cost of the
project for engineering, construction, and advertisement to $1,341,004.95. Therefore, the total cost of the project is $341,004.95 over the funding available in the TDD budget.

There were two bids received and opened on April 9 with J.C. Myers Construction and KAT Excavation.

KAT Excavation was the lowest responsible bidder at a cost of $1,145,008.35. The engineer’s estimated construction cost was $997,226.00.

Coleman recommended that all bids be rejected and re-bid the project this fall. Staff will work with engineering towards possible alternative cost cuts for the project, it was noted.

City Adminstrator Harold Stewart said he hopes there will be a larger pool of bidders for the project this fall. He explained that for some contractors who are busy with other projects, the roundabout project is not a high priority for them. “So it behooves us to rebid it,” he said, adding that the Hawthorne Roundabout is a project that will fit nicely into next year's budget.

In addition, Stewart said, the Missouri legislature is currently looking into changing the prevailing wage law and may affect the total cost of a project such as the Hawthorne Roundabout. He also said that two businesses in the area have closed since the project was originally announced.

Councilman Bob Watts then emphasized that the roundabout is not part of the city's bond issue.

Completion of the Hawthorne Roundabout is now expected to occur in the summer of 2019.

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