Mason City council to discuss bid for Scrip Road conversion, lack of bids for Illinois Avenue bridge widening project

MASON CITY — The City Council in Mason City tonight will hold public hearings dealing with construction contracts for two portions of the city’s Destination Iowa bike trail project, but one of those projects will be heading back to square one after it did not receive any bids.

The city received one bid for the Scrip Road Conversion Project from Heartland Asphalt of Mason City for $428,172, slightly over the engineer’s estimated cost of the project of $425,571.

The city did not receive any bids for the Illinois Avenue bridge widening project. City Engineer Mark Rahm in a memo states that the city’s consultant on the project, WHKS, reached out to several of the contractors following the bidding deadline to gather feedback.

WHKS stated that those responding stated their schedules were nearly filled and they would not be able to meet the completion date. They also stated they most likely would have submitted a bid if it were a 2024 project.

Rahm is recommending that the city release the project for rebidding toward the latter part of this year with the project being completed in 2024.

The council meets at 7 o’clock tonight in the Mason City Room of the Public Library.