Bids for street improvement work and park concessions were approved by Sulphur Springs City Council during a streamed Tuesday evening meeting that lasted less than 30 minutes.
SIP Contract
The city posted notices for bids for all labor, materials and equipment for full depth milling and inlay, hot mix asphalt concrete and cement treatment of the sub grade, including mixing, cement, compaction, final grading and coating for the Street Improvement Program. At the close of the bid period, the city received four bids: $1,627,285 from Richard Drake, $1,517,648 from RK Hall, $1,144,454 from Area Wide Paving and $1,137,776 from Texana Land & Asphalt.
City officials indicated they were pleased with the bid prices as they reflected only a nominal increase in unit price, with the less than $6,800 separating the two lowest bids.
The City Council, at the recommendation of city staff, awarded the contract for the Street Improvement Program to Texana Land & Asphalt; the company not only was the lowest qualified bidder but was also reported to have performed satisfactory work for the same services in 2020. Upon mutual agreement of the city and company, the contract may be extended for up to one year.
Funding for the services will be provided by street maintenance fee funds, which is a fee charged on city utility bills which is budgeted to raise $500,000 annually, and budgeted capital improvement program street funds.
The street maintenance fee is $5 per month per residential unit, $5 per month per unit for multi-family units, $12.50 per month for commercial units and $30 per month per industrial unit.
In 2020, the Street Maintenance Fee, enabled the City to pave 5.45 miles of city streets, 3.04 miles more than the regular Summer Paving program allows, according to the FY 2020 Street Maintenance Fee Report.
Park Concessions
For about 10 years, the city contracted with various individuals or local restaurants to provide concessions services at four concessions stand in designated city parks. The most recent contract with The Little Egg ended in December of 2020, Sulphur Springs Finance Director Lesa Smith explained.
Notices were posted requesting proposals for concessions services. The city received one bid, from The Little Egg. City staff reviewed the proposal and found it acceptable, meeting all terms.
City Manager Marc Maxwell noted that this is not a service for which the city typically receives an excess of bids, and is in fact grateful to have received the one bid.
“I spoke with Jerry Maynard on it. They’ve gotten excellent feed back doing tournaments. They have an extensive menu and does every time it opens up. Some come to get the food that do not come to see games. This one does an excellent job. I think we should hire him before he changes his mind,” Sulphur Springs Place 5 Councilman Gary Spraggins noted.
“I’ve also hard positive comments on the food out there,” Sulphur Springs Mayor John Sellers said.
Smith recommended the City Council award the contract to The Little Egg, with the contract to run from March 3 to Dec. 31, 2021, with an option to extend it for three additional one-year terms upon agreement between the city manager and concessionaire. The Little Egg has provided “quality concession services” to the city of Sulphur Springs since 2018.
The contract for park concessions will be a bit different from past concessions contracts. In the past, Smith explained, contracts were based on a percentage of gross sales to be remitted to the city each month by the concessionaire. This time, the method of fee collection will be a monthly rental amount based on the events hosted at the park. That means that some months there may be no rent paid, and monthly rents will vary.
The City Council approved the bid from The Little Egg to serve as concessionaire for city parks this year, with the option to renew in one-year increments for up to three additional years.
May Elections
Sulphur Springs City Council voted unanimously to accept the certificates of unopposed candidates and orders cancelling the May 2021 General Election and Special Election as the incumbents were the only candidates to filed by the February deadline for their seats on the council.
Jay W. Julian, who was elected in a December 2020 runoff for the unexpired term for Place 1, will serve a three-year term in the seat beginning in May. Harold Nash Sr., who was appointed in December 2019 to fill Place 2, one of four openings created by the resignations of four City Council members, then was unopposed in November 2020 for the unexpired term, will serve a full term in the seat starting in May 2021. Oscar Aguilar was unopposed in Novembers to serve the remainder of the unexpired term for Place 3.
Gary Spraggins was elected in November to serve part of the unexpired term in Place 5 on the Council, another of the four seats left vacant by the resignation of the councilman in December 2019. Spraggins was the only candidate who filed to serve another one-year of the unexpired term for Place 5 and also will continue serving in the seat until May 2022.
