The Duluth City Council voted recently to approve $68,820 for the replacement of 5 HVAC units and controls at the Duluth Festival Center. The city received three bids for the work, with the lowest coming in at $43,820 from Peachtree Construction Inc. Two additional bids were significantly higher at $124,440 from Diversified Construction of GA and $193,500 from Mechanical Services Inc.
With the assistance of Pond & Company, Duluth city staff reviewed and evaluated the bids with a recommendation to award the work to Peachtree Construction Inc. at $43,820 with an additional contingency of $25,000 for a total budget of $68,820. The contingency was recommended after discussing the building layout/design challenges with the Assistant Director of Public Works.
Funding for this project comes from General Fund prior year reserves, and recently donated funds from the Fall Festival Committee. Because there is a large difference from low bid to two higher bids, the Duluth City Council wanted to ensure the scope of the project was interpreted correctly.
