Lewisville Leader > News
Lewisville restarts plaza project
By Heather M. Goodwin, hgoodwin@starlocalnews.com
After a month's delay, Lewisville will once again be seeking bids for the Wayne Ferguson Plaza project.
During Monday night's Lewisville City Council meeting, council members voted to restart the process of finding a contractor for the project. On Jan. 7, council members voted to delay the project after the city turned down the two bids it received for the upcoming Wayne Ferguson Plaza project. The city usually receives at least five bids for projects like the plaza, but only two came in and the city was not pleased with those.
"Since that time, some questions that were asked got answers, and we got additional information from the utility company," said James Kunke, community relations and tourism director. "We feel confident that we will now get quality bids."
Now, the project will be posted on the Bidsync website where contractors may search government projects. Kunke said the city expects to get better bids than the first round.
"It's about the quality of the bid proposal, not necessarily, or only, the price," Kunke said. "Even with the one-month delay, we're ahead of our original schedule."
Once the city accepts a bid, it expects to begin construction the end of May. The 10-month process should be completed around March 2014.
The plaza will include a 1.5-acre urban park, a permanent stage with a water feature backdrop that Kunke said may also be used as a projector, a manmade stream to provide aesthetics, a boardwalk and a splash zone for children.
"This urban park will create a strong visual link between the Medical Center of Lewisville Grand Theater, Main Street and City Hall," Kunke said. "It's not a park in terms of nature and trails. It's supposed to link those areas that are otherwise not connected."
On Monday, the city council took another step forward in the plaza project. Out of the 13 properties the city needs ownership of for the project, 12 have transferred ownership to the city. The Old Town Flying Pig, LLC chose not to participate in the project through donation of the required property, approximately 900 square feet, or replacing the sewer lines and putting the utilities underground. The city council members voted to authorize the city manager to try and purchase the property, but if that fails, the city council OK'd the use of imminent domain.
"That means that if negotiations fail, the city may go before an imminent domain panel and present their plan for use of the property. The property owners will do the same, and then the panel would decide how much the city must pay for the property," Kunke said. "This doesn't mean we're using imminent domain right now; it means we're authorized by the council to use it if we need."
During Monday night's Lewisville City Council meeting, council members voted to restart the process of finding a contractor for the project. On Jan. 7, council members voted to delay the project after the city turned down the two bids it received for the upcoming Wayne Ferguson Plaza project. The city usually receives at least five bids for projects like the plaza, but only two came in and the city was not pleased with those.
"Since that time, some questions that were asked got answers, and we got additional information from the utility company," said James Kunke, community relations and tourism director. "We feel confident that we will now get quality bids."
Now, the project will be posted on the Bidsync website where contractors may search government projects. Kunke said the city expects to get better bids than the first round.
"It's about the quality of the bid proposal, not necessarily, or only, the price," Kunke said. "Even with the one-month delay, we're ahead of our original schedule."
Once the city accepts a bid, it expects to begin construction the end of May. The 10-month process should be completed around March 2014.
The plaza will include a 1.5-acre urban park, a permanent stage with a water feature backdrop that Kunke said may also be used as a projector, a manmade stream to provide aesthetics, a boardwalk and a splash zone for children.
"This urban park will create a strong visual link between the Medical Center of Lewisville Grand Theater, Main Street and City Hall," Kunke said. "It's not a park in terms of nature and trails. It's supposed to link those areas that are otherwise not connected."
On Monday, the city council took another step forward in the plaza project. Out of the 13 properties the city needs ownership of for the project, 12 have transferred ownership to the city. The Old Town Flying Pig, LLC chose not to participate in the project through donation of the required property, approximately 900 square feet, or replacing the sewer lines and putting the utilities underground. The city council members voted to authorize the city manager to try and purchase the property, but if that fails, the city council OK'd the use of imminent domain.
"That means that if negotiations fail, the city may go before an imminent domain panel and present their plan for use of the property. The property owners will do the same, and then the panel would decide how much the city must pay for the property," Kunke said. "This doesn't mean we're using imminent domain right now; it means we're authorized by the council to use it if we need."
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