That’s the final design for the long-awaited Delridge Skatepark, for which groundbreaking was anticipated soon, since bids came in two weeks ago (as reported here), with two bids below the original $505,000 estimate. The second-lowest was $502,000 from the West Seattle company that designed it (as a subcontractor), Grindline. But the low bidder, TF Sahli Construction ($413,000), may not meet the qualifications – and therein lies the controversy. West Seattle skatepark advocate and city Skate Park Advisory Committee (SPAC) member Matthew Lee Johnston has been covering this closely on the citywide website he keeps, SeattleSkateparks.org. On Tuesday, Johnston wrote this item openly critical of the low bidder and the construction process for the Seattle skatepark Sahli recently built, Lower Woodland. Today, he wrote a followup, suggesting that Parks has determined that Sahli did not meet the qualifications but would seek to re-bid the project instead of giving the contract to the 2nd-lowest bidder. That report drew concern from one North Delridge neighborhood leader who has long helped marshal support for the project, Nancy Folsom, who wrote a letter to Parks Department manager Kevin Stoops (as have Johnston and 2 other SPAC members) saying in part:
I urge you to reconsider. I’m sure you have only the best interest of the budget in mind, but a contract that seems cheap up front can end up costing far more in the long run. This will be a major city feature for many years. I will have to leave across the street from it. Let’s make it something that we’re all proud of. I don’t want to regret encouraging my neighbors to support the park and process.
We checked with Parks to see if the re-bidding report is true. Project manager Kelly Davidson was unavailable, but spokesperson Joelle Hammerstad tells WSB that Sahli has been given “until close of business today” to submit “additional documentation” regarding its qualifications – in particular, she mentioned, having to “have built six 15,000-square-foot or larger skateparks in the past six years.” So what happens if Sahli does not submit documentation confirming that? we asked. Parks has the discretion, according to Hammerstad, to either give the contract to the next lowest bidder (Grindline) or to re-bid. Since Monday is a furlough day for the division working on the project, we won’t know anything more before Tuesday – but this issue is certain to come up at SPAC’s next monthly meeting, which happens to be Monday night at Parks HQ downtown, 7 pm.
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