THE STOCKTON CITY COUNCIL recently voted unanimously to withdraw a bid for Victory Park renovations and reject all proposals for the Channel Street Corridor after errors plagued both projects.
Both city improvement projects faced misrepresentations, either lacking accurate cost data or having bid requirement confusions. Despite the setbacks, both projects will move forward, though not as originally planned.
The company selected to renovate Victory Park, Tricon, lost its contract with the city after Stockton staff, alongside the city attorney’s office, discovered an administrative error in the construction company’s bid.
Jonathan T. Peel, Tricon’s vice president of operations, attributed the mistake to its subcontractor, Berkeley Cement, for failing to include numerous items in the initial bid.
“Tricon received an email notification from our concrete subcontractor … that they had made a critical error on their proposal and did not include the cost for the … swimming pool deck, spray pad deck and other pool deck misc. items in their bid,” Peel wrote in a letter to the city of Stockton.
Tricon’s initial $6.9 million bid estimate was off by approximately $400,000 beating two other construction companies as the lowest bidder for the project. According to the city engineer, the project was estimated to cost $6.49 million.
Berkeley Cement apologized for the error in a letter to the city, noting that they believe Tricon “would still have been the apparent low bidder with our corrected proposals.”
Due to the bidding error, the city of Stockton was recommended to select the second lowest bidder in order to move forward with the park renovation in a timely manner.
As the runner up, CWS Construction Group was then awarded the new contract to renovate Victory Park at the cost of just over $7.3 million, which is an increase of $455,000 from Tricon’s original bid. Despite having a lower bid with the adjusted proposal, the city of Stockton declined to move forward with Tricon.
Timeline for Victory Park remains intact
The initial timeline for the Victory Park renovations does not seem to be affected by this snafu. Construction on the park is slated to be completed by summer 2025, which includes a brand new pool, restroom facilities, spray-ground and parking lot. The basketball court will also be torn down and reconstructed in a new location just east of the current tennis ball court. The park has been closed since 2013 due to noncompliance with building code.
Bids for the proposed Channel Street Corridor Improvement Project were also rejected at the City Council’s Sept. 17 meeting. The project is set to bring several improvements along Channel Street in downtown Stockton, including new crosswalks, sidewalks, bicycle lanes and pavement.
According to legislation text, the city of Stockton blames The Record for publishing a notice for bid requests for the Channel Street Project that listed requirements not included in the project. Therefore, bids the city received did not fit the project parameters and it was forced to restart the bidding process.
The Stockton city attorney’s office recommended that the five bids submitted during the initial process be rejected and the project be re-advertised on Sept. 5 with final bids due by Sept 26.
More than $10 million was approved at the City Council meeting for various improvement projects across the city, including the construction of a brand new Stockton Animal Shelter facility and equipment for the city’s public access channel.
The Stockton Animal Shelter building on South Lincoln Street will be updating its current infrastructure, including its power supply, backup generators, the repurposing of several modular buildings and acquiring a brand new industrial freezer.
The shelter improvements will also support current operations, such as by providing a new medical facility, conference space, staff offices, bathrooms, animal isolation rooms and rehabilitation areas. Construction is set begin this fall with an anticipated completion date of spring 2026.
New equipment for council meeting broadcasts
Brand new equipment is also heading its way to Stockton GovTV after the City Council approved nearly $400,000 to construct a brand new live and post production system for the government access TV channel at the direction of City Manager Harry Black.
TV Pro Gear is providing the equipment and construction of the new facility, which will be installed in the new City Hall location on West Weber Avenue. The facility will allow the city to stream in 4K and HD cameras alongside a sweep of editing tools that allow council members to participate remotely.
In addition, closed captioning will be available in Spanish.
Other approved items:
- $539,112.19 to purchase a management program for Stockton Public Works
- $198,637.48 awarded to W-Trans for the construction of several public safety improvements in the streets of Stockton
- $389,000 to construct additional bike lanes along Alpine Avenue as well as a cycle track on Pershing to Mendocino Avenues and Kensington Way
- $2,349,908 awarded to Tim Paxin’s Pacific Excavation Inc. to begin construction of an independent fiber signal network in Stockton
- Road repairs and resurfacing along 12 miles of road in Stockton
This story originally appeared in Stocktonia.
