GILROY
– A majority of City Council members say they will approve a
$22.4 million bid to construct a new police headquarters if city
staff members say the bidder is responsible
By Lori Stuenkel
GILROY – A majority of City Council members say they will approve a $22.4 million bid to construct a new police headquarters if city staff members say the bidder is responsible.
Council members are scheduled to make a decision Monday night on the bid from S.J. Amoroso Construction of Redwood Shores – the lower of two bids submitted July 23.
Including soft costs for construction management and a contingency budget – plus already paid costs for design and land purchase – the total estimated bill to build the new Gilroy Police Department is $27.7 million.
That’s about what Council members expected this time around. It’s about $4 million less than Amoroso’s low bid in May 2003 on a previous station design, but it is $5 million more than the city originally expected to pay.
Councilmen Bob Dillon, Craig Gartman and Roland Velasco and Mayor Al Pinheiro have said they will vote yes for Amoroso’s bid if the city staff recommends it.
“I’ve had a chance to take a look at the staff report, and it’s going to be a go for me,” Dillon said. “I expect that to pass easily.”
Dillon, the only Council member who attended the bid opening, said his father has done work for Amoroso. He described the firm as “a good contractor.” Amoroso is currently building the new Eliot Elementary School in Gilroy.
“I think that we got a couple of good bids in there,” Gartman said. “We’re going to be responsible with the people’s funds and build a station that is affordable.”
Between May and December of last year, city staff cut $5.4 million worth of construction costs out of the station, including a second level of underground parking and a radio/clock tower, but rising costs of steel and other materials this spring added between $1 million and $2 million.
Dillon predicted the GPD wouldn’t need to upgrade the new station until 2038. Gartman predicted a more conservative 20-year life span.
The city is paying for the station with development impact fees earmarked solely for police capital projects.
Velasco, like Dillon, has predicted the Council will approve the low bid. Pinheiro said he would probably vote with the staff recommendation.
