City commissioners approved a series of repairs at the Parks Administrative Building last week that will cost the city $57,247.
The repairs come after the city in October 2020 contracted Restoration 1 of Tampa Bay to “remediate a water intrusion and mold problem in the portion of the Parks Administrative building formerly occupied by the Tampa Bay Vipers of the XFL.
The Lunz Group, Inc. prepared a scope of work and specifications to address the water intrusion problem and restore the affected areas of the building’s interior.”
Following that decision, on March 30, 2021, the Procurement Division issued Invitation for Bid for the project and received three responses ranging from $33,910 to $79,998. The lowest bid was reviewed and Procurement “determined the bid to be non-responsive and non-responsible as they failed to provide evidence of insurance coverage as specified in the IFB.”
Staff ended up deciding Specialized Property Services, Inc.’s bid of $57,247 was the lowest priced responsive and responsible vendor and a Notice of Intent to Award was issued on May 14. Last week city commissioners authorized the city manager to execute a contract with the company for the repairs on the Parks Administrative Building.
“You know how these things happen, first you find the mold and then you track down where it’s coming from and soon we realized the walls were kind of weeping water,” City Manager Bill McDaniel said. “It’s actually the part of the building the XFL was occupying. This was an issue we had to address so the decision last week was simply to get those repairs going so we can remedy this as quickly as possible.”
A budget amendment later that evening reallocated funds for the project by designating $60,000 for a new Community Investment Tax (CIP) to repair the building. The repairs will include wall/foundation sealant, include the replacement of drywall and baseboards and will be used to paint and replace carpet.
When it was realized the facility had water intrusion the city paid $21,037 “to immediately remove mold and clean up the area.”
The new Parks Administrative Building CIP will be funded by a transfer from operating line items in the Recreation department of the General Fund.
Another budget amendment came after commissioners set aside $40,000 for more renovations at Fire Station 2, including changes to the exterior stucco and painting. This is being transferred from the operating budget to the ongoing Fire Station 2 renovation project.
There was also a budget adjustment to use $35,000 at Fire Station 2 to purchase wardrobe lockers for dorms, reconnect the radio equipment, update sign to match Fire Station 3, update furniture and equipment. An additional $4,500 will be used for Fire Vehicle Preemption System to purchase and install an emergency vehicle preemption box. The funding will be appropriated from the balance available in the CIP Renewal and Replacement Fund.
In 2018 the station was approved to get a new roof since it at that point was still under the original roof from 1990. Small renovations were done over the years, but then in 2019 the budget allocated approximately $400,000 to renovate and upgrade the station. In 2020, commissioners agreed to renovate the 5,100 square feet of living space in the station including its kitchen, bathrooms, offices, dayroom, dorms, fitness area and apparatus bay. Next, two front overhead doors were replaced and new signage was installed.
“As you know we have had an ongoing renovation project at Fire Station 2 to redo the entire interior of that building,” McDaniel said. “Now we are moving on to the next steps and addressing the remaining issues that need to be improved.”