Three architectural firms respond
By Bert Lehman
The city of Clintonville has taken the next step in its quest to build a new workshop for the Parks and Recreation Department.
That step came at the May 28 Parks and Recreation Committee meeting, when the committee authorized the city administrator to negotiate with an architectural firm regarding the project.
“The longer you wait on these engineering services, the longer it’s going to take for the project,” Parks and Recreation Director Justin Mc Auly told the committee.
He said the city sent out requests for bids to 10 different engineering firms located in Shawano, Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay and the Appleton area.
One firm said the project was too small for them. Mc Auly added that he thinks a lot of the engineering firms in the Milwaukee area are involved with the Foxconn development.
“Unless we get the ball rolling fast I think there’s going to be issues with contractors, depending on how large the contracting company is,” Mc Auly said. “So I think it’s important that we get rolling on this.”
Three firms responded to the city’s bid request.
After reviewing the forms that were submitted, Mc Auly said he recommended Gries Architectural Group Inc. out of Neenah. One of his reasons was Gries is a smaller firm that deals more one-on-one for projects.
“You’re typically going to have the same group of people working with you all along,” Mc Auly said. “It seems like they pride themselves in customer service.”
According to the prospectus submitted by Gries to the city, references for Gries included: city of Appleton, city of Neenah, Fox Communities Credit Union, Neenah Joint School District, YMCA of the Fox Cities, and the village of Fox Crossing.
Mc Auly informed the committee that he contacted some of those references.
The committee approved authorizing the Clintonville city administrator to negotiate a contract for the architectural design services with Gries Architectural Group with the understanding that should negotiations fail, the city administrator is authorized to proceed with the second most qualified candidate and so forth until a mutually agreeable contract is reached.
Mc Aly told the committee the issue will go before the city’s finance committee once a proposal is completed. It will then go before the city council.
When contacted by the Clintonville Tribune-Gazette on Monday, June 4, Clintonville City Administrator Sharon Eveland said via email that the city has not finalized anything with Gries.
She also said the city doesn’t have many details finalized regarding a new workshop for the Parks and Recreation Department, as the city is in the early phases of the project.
“The facility will most likely be located at Bucholtz Park but that will be determined at a later date when we have a little more information,” Eveland said in an email. “The Council voted in May to designate funds from the city’s portion of the final TID disbursement to pay for the new workshop.”