KJCT8.com - Grand Junction, Montrose - Weather, News, Sports | City Council awards $2.3 mil contract

City Council awards $2.3 mil contract

DON COLEMAN
DCOLEMAN@KJCT8.COM

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KJCT) -- Wednesday night the Grand Junction City Council took the final step in making a downtown renovation a reality.

City council members voted to award a construction contract to a local company.

"Motion carries. Seven, zero," said Grand Junction Mayor Bruce Hill.

The $2.3 million contract was awarded to locally based FCI Construction Inc.

"You love to have the community, contractors who live and work here, get the benefit of the money, to be spent in the community," said Council Member Tom Kenyon.

Six legal and binding bids were initially thrown into the mix. But, FCI was ultimately chosen because they had the lowest bid price.

"We're getting a lot more bang for our buck [right now]," said Council Member Gregg Palmer.

And what's more is nearly 1/3 of FCI’s employees are from Grand Junction.

Many council members felt comfortable that local people would be getting at least some of the jobs.

But they knew they weren't in any position to restrict outsourcing.

"If you as a city have a preferential system, where you’re biased towards just your local community, then other communities will react and have the same standards when they have bids," Kenyon said.

Council Member Bonnie Beckstein says the economic effect ranges far beyond new jobs in our community because work will last nearly six months.

"They eat in restaurants, they buy food in grocery stores, they buy their supplies,” Beckstein said. “They may not be contributing the same way as people who live here, but they're still contributing to our economy."

And that contribution can go a long way.

“That dollar turns over six or seven times in our community, as people spend it," Kenyon said.

So regardless of the job outlook locally, council members feel the impact economically will only be positive.

"Anytime we can put $2.5 million into the community, in the winter time, it always helps the community."

The project will start construction after the New Year. Beginning January 4th, the project should last until June 9th.