The Dunwoody City Council questioned staff members at its March 25 meeting about bids for a city project from outside vendors that seemed extremely high or extremely low, asking if the low offers seemed reasonable for the scope of work.
One such project, maintenance repairs for the Shallowford Annex Building, received bids from $180,000 to $509,000. Several council members asked about the price variations.
“I’m just wondering why there is such a discrepancy,” Councilperson Stacey Harris said. “How confident are we that the $180,000 is going to do the same thing as the $509,000 one?”
Parks and Recreation Director Rachel Waldron said the staff noted the diversity in price and have asked the winning bidder, Southern Preservation Systems, for a one-year warranty on the work.
In another situation, regarding the installation of eight signs at area parks, the council questioned whether or not the costs of putting up signs at two parks, Wildcat and Homecoming, would be prudent, as the fate of the development of the two areas are in limbo. The total cost of installing the eight signs is $129,000. Signarama was the winning bidder.
Last November, voters resoundingly defeated a $60 million referendum that would finance the build out of both parks, and there are no funds in the city budget to make any improvements in the near future.
“We really don’t know what’s going on with those properties, and that’s $40,000 worth of signs, and if those properties may become something else, and then they would have to be moved or taken down,” Councilperson Tom Lambert said.
The council agreed to discuss the signage contract at a future meeting.
In other action, the council:
- heard that the city has received an additional $600,000 in grant funds for paving, and approved taking a wait-and-see approach to decide where the money should go. This year the city is slated to spend $3.8 million on paving, the highest amount since its inception;
- Recognized Dunwoody High School’s Youth Council for its work throughout the year and for hosting the city council at DHS earlier this year;
- Was told that the Perimeter Center Improvement District will foot the bill for license plate readers, surveillance cameras and gunshot detection equipment in the PCID area.
