Lawton City Council to decide whether aquatic center plan will proceed

City Council members will decide today whether to proceed with a higher-than-expected price for a new aquatics center, or risk missing a Summer 2025 opening date by rebidding the project.

The project for the east end of Elmer Thomas Park is among the upgrades council members and city administrators have been pondering as they weigh the advantages of new recreational amenities for city residents. An aquatics center also was among the upgrades recommended in the Elmer Thomas master plan crafted for the City of Lawton last year, and council members have said they wanted to proceed with the project so the new water center is operational for the beginning of Summer 2025.

That will depend on what the council decides today.

City engineers and design firm Guernsey launched the bidding process earlier this year, ultimately receiving one bid from Miller-Tippens Construction Company. The firm’s base bid is $14.6 million, with an alternate bid of $5.3 million. The base bid includes features such as a lap pool, group slide, diving boards, a building and parking lot, while the alternate is a lazy river water feature.

Those costs compare to the engineering estimate of $12.24 million for the base bid and $5.21 million for the alternate.

The council has the option to accept that single bid, or reject it and rebid the project. Accepting the bid today means the council can direct city staff to execute the construction contract so work can begin. Rejecting it means restarting the bidding process and that will delay the project beyond the May 2025 completion date.

The architect’s recommendation is to accept the bid contingent upon the availability of funding (which will come from the Capital Improvements Program) and city staff has said it can work with the contractor to do “value engineering” to reduce the cost by eliminating some work.

According to city officials who analyzed the project, Miller-Tippens said it can deliver the project by May 2025, but is concerned about the liquidated damage clause of $2,000 per day for each day the project goes beyond its contracted completion date. But, awarding the contract July 9 would allow construction to begin quickly enough to meet the May 2025 deadline.

City officials said the company is willing to remove the 120 additional days it says it needs in the project contract (meaning, four months beyond May 2025) if the City of Lawton removes the liquidated damages provision. Guernsey recommended the council accept the bid if the city “has funding available when the City Council approves this bid.”

Engineers said a delay in awarding the contract guarantees the aquatics center won’t be operational until 2026. And, they said a delay caused by rebidding “rarely has resulted in a lower bid” and there is no guarantee additional firms will submit bids or that Miller-Tippens will submit a new bid.

In other business, the council will consider amending its rules of procedures governing council meetings, incorporating changes that have been set in recent meetings.

The changes include the new 6 p.m. start time that is to go into effect at the Aug. 13 meeting. Council members decided earlier this summer to return to the evening start times that were the norm until the body adopted a 2 p.m. start time in 2020.

Other changes center on public participation, the portion of the meeting where residents are allowed to comment. New rules specify that those wishing to speak during audience participation must be residents of Lawton and must submit a request to speak form. Failure to submit the form gives the council the ability to deny a request to speak, city attorneys said. The rules also now specify that if an individual has been removed from the council meeting due to disruptive or abusive behavior, he/she forfeits the right to speak during audience participation for six months.