More time needed for Zearing bids

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PRINCETON — The Princeton Park Board is still a couple weeks away from having a final construction plan and pre-bid packets available for the Zearing Park expansion project.

At Monday’s meeting, engineer Kevin Heitz, with Chamlin and Associates of Peru, said he needed another couple weeks to continue working on the Zearing Park expansion plan. The extra time is needed to balance the earthwork portion of the project so no extra dirt is needed for the project or, on the other hand, no extra dirt has to be hauled away. Also, he has needed extra time to incorporate some adjustments to the plan for the proposed pathway around the park, he said.

Heitz apologized for the delay, saying he has not yet been able to complete the necessary pre-bid packets for interested contractors.

Originally, Heitz had hoped to have a pre-bid meeting with interested contractors on Thursday. The board had hoped to have bids opened Jan. 19 and a contract potentially awarded on Feb. 2.

After hearing from Heitz, the park board agreed to Heitz’s recommendation to set those dates back a couple weeks, with Jan. 22 as the pre-bid meeting, Feb. 2 for the opening of bids, and Feb. 16 for a possible awarding of the contract.

The two-week delay will not affect the start of the actual work at the Zearing site, Heitz said. With the unpredictable weather, contractors would probably not get started at the site until late March or early April, he said.

So far, three local contractors have expressed interest in the Zearing Park project, Heitz said. The project will also be advertised through Chamlin’s web site and local newspapers, as well as in the Chicago area.

Board president Gene Englehart said the delay is unfortunate, but understandable.

Park District Director Elaine Russell said the board will have the Zearing Park project bids for review at its Feb. 2 meeting and then have a couple weeks to study the bids before making a decision at the board’s Feb. 16 meeting.

In other Zearing Park business, attorney Bob Russell said plans are progressing well to exchange about one and one-half acres on the south side of the new 40 acres for the Zearing Park for a similar size piece of property on the east edge of the park. The exchange will be done with Bonucci Farms and should be completed within the next few weeks, Russell said.

In other business, the park board approved decreasing mileage reimbursement rates for qualified persons from 58.5 cents per mile down to 55 cents per mile, following the lead of the Internal Revenue Service which lowered its standard mileage rate to 55 cents on Jan. 1.

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