Camas metropolis leaders are reconsidering the scope of a $1.85 million library enchancment undertaking after two rounds of contractor bids got here in means over price range, with the bottom bid about $1 million too excessive.
“The first time we went out to bid, we didn’t get very many bids to begin with, and they were just way too high, so we regrouped and reduced our scope,” Camas Public Library Director Connie Urquhart instructed the Camas Metropolis Council on Monday. “We waited until after the holidays and sent everything out again. We got more interest, but they were all too high.”
The library director mentioned the town hopes to obtain extra aggressive bids by splitting the development work into two components — an exterior undertaking centered on restoration, security and accessibility, and an inside undertaking that may create a brand new Kids’s Studying Hive for infants, toddlers and youthful youngsters; and improve lighting, carpeting and furnishings within the library’s most in-need areas.
“The library is one of the city’s greatest assets, and it has not been refurbished in 20 years,” Urquhart mentioned. “This small upgrade will pay proactive attention to the areas which need it most: tripping hazards, crumbling building edifices, accessibility issues and outdated modes of service for children.”
Camas council members OK’d the library enchancment undertaking in November 2023. Urquhart mentioned then that almost three-fourths of the $1.85 million undertaking was funded by grants, donations and federal pandemic-relief {dollars}. Metropolis leaders earmarked $610,000 from the town’s $6 million American Rescue Plan Act funds to assist construct the Kids’s Studying Hive after residents listed the library undertaking as a excessive precedence for the way the town ought to allocate its pandemic-relief cash. The Washington State Division of Commerce additionally gave the town of Camas a $730,000 grant to assist fund the outside library enhancements.
“The exterior is mostly covered by the grant, but the interior is where it’s going to hurt,” Urquhart instructed members of the library’s board of trustees in March. “No matter what we do, we’ll have to make some cuts.”
The library director instructed Camas Metropolis Council members Monday that sure supplies deliberate for the Kids’s Studying Hive, together with built-in cabinetry and fabric, helped drive up prices.
“We’re continuing to reduce the scope. We’ve gutted it a little bit, but our goal is to stay within budget,” Urquhart mentioned.
She added that issues taking place on the federal degree might also impression the library enchancment undertaking’s prices.
“We all know what’s happening with tariffs and that things are going to be more expensive, so it’s going to be difficult,” Urquhart mentioned. “But this is our plan, and we’re working to bring it to fruition.”
