The City of Mount Vernon approved a contract with Woodruff Construction to complete the pool renovations, with a base bid of $1.44 million.

There were two other bidders on the project, with their base bids coming in the $1.64 to $1.69 million range.

Woodruff also contributed an alternate bid of $529,000 for a stand-alone slide. City Administrator Chris Nosbisch recommended awarding the base bid only at this time.

“This estimate came in slightly higher than Water’s Edge had estimated, and with the age of the pool that we’re going to be making repairs in, I’d prefer we have that extra money for contingency for unexpected surprises,” Nosbisch said.

Nosbisch said if there are no surprises, they could phase in the slide towards the end of the project.

A representative from Woodruff also said they found discrepancies in their bid for that alternate, which would shift that price lower as well, including doubling up on an expense for a ladder in the unit.

It was also recommended that the city doesn’t immediately drain the pool, and allow Woodruff to conduct some leak tests to find areas where water may be disappearing before getting the pool ready for winter.

The approval of the base bid will allow the contractor to get to work on the pool until this fall and work towards completing their repairs before next spring.