Bids within city budget

Wheels could soon turn at skate park project

— Bids to build a skate facility in Gentry’s city park were opened Friday afternoon, with four companies submitting bids for the project.

The apparent low bidder for the project was Allcorn, Inc., Concrete Construction, with a bid of $69,000.

Other bidders were JSCI (Sanders Construction) with a bid of $74,655; Hard Core Shotcrete Skateparks, $103,097; and Danny Robinson, $144,000.

Before a contract is awarded, both the city council and the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism must approve a contractor’s bid. The city council is expected to take up the matter at its July 5 meeting.

Separate sealed bids for the purchase, assembly and installation of items for the skate spot park for the city of Gentry were solicited in state and local newspapers for two weeks and were received until 2 p.m. Friday, when they were opened and read aloud.

At its May meeting the city council approved accepting $40,000 in grant money for the construction of a skate facility in the city park.

The city had applied for $80,000 in grant money through the Outdoor GrantProgram of the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism. The grant is a 50/50 matching grant, so the city had also budgeted $80,000 in city funds for the skate park project.

The plan proposed by the Parks Committee and approved by the council is to accept the$40,000 and match it, making $80,000 available for construction of the skate facility and adjoining playground. The city would use the remaining $40,00 in its budget to pay professional fees and to build required access walks to the skate park.

The skate facility and playground project was put out for bids, and the city was hoping the project could be completed for $80,000. With two bids under that amount, it appears the project will go forward.

The park facility had been in the planning stages for more than a year, but money has been short and the city had to place the skate facility on hold.

A fund-raising drive a year ago failed to bring in enough to move the project forward. But now, with the state grant and bids within the money allotted for the project, a skate park may soon be under construction.

News, Pages 1 on 06/30/2010