Cedar Hills boosts bond
The Cedar Hills City Council voted Tuesday night to raise the parameters for a tax-revenue bond to $2.5 million — an increase of $1 million — to fund the public works facility.
City officials blame the discrepancy on rising construction costs and the city's failure to accurately account for those increases for the past five years.
"We were off," said Konrad Hildebrandt, city manager.
Construction bids for the future home of the city's public works department came in significantly higher than the $1.5 million bond ceiling previously approved by the City Council.
The low bid for the facility alone was just under $1.5 million from Brubaker Construction Inc. of Midvale.
Additional costs for the project — including engineering and design, furnishings, information technology, contingency and debt reserve — total about $600,000, Hildebrandt said.
The City Council also opted for a full-brick face for the facility instead of a brick/stucco combination, bringing the estimated cost of the project to $2.2 million.
Even if the total cost of the project is less than $2.2 million, it's still a significant miscalculation, Councilman Jim Perry said.
"To be off by $1 million is certainly a nontrivial amount," Perry said during Tuesday's meeting.
The city identified the public works facility as a capital project about five years ago and budgeted it last year at $875,000, Hildebrandt said.
City officials expected additional costs — interior, furnishings, etc. — to bring the total project price tag to about $1.5 million, he said.
Hildebrandt said that figure potentially could increase as much as $1 million, "but we hope that it's no more than $500,000."
"We hope to come in less than $2 million," he said.
The City Council decided to re-issue the bond parameters rather than trying to find additional funds elsewhere — which Hildebrandt said would be very difficult to do — or scaling back the project.
Bond payments will be covered by franchise fees, Hildebrandt said.
The construction bid was awarded to Brubaker Construction, which will begin work within the next two weeks.
The public works facility will be constructed on the east side of Canyon Drive about 10280 North. It is expected to be complete this fall.
E-mail: jpage@desnews.com
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