Plans to expand city water and sewer services to a senior housing project in Kenai are on hold. That’s after the only bid for the work came in significantly over budget.
The city is working with the Kenai Peninsula Housing Initiative on the effort, which includes installing utility lines and paving about 200 feet of road north of Redoubt Avenue, near Wildwood Correctional Complex. That’s the site of the group’s latest senior housing complex. Kenai Peninsula Housing Initiative already operates 12 senior housing units in the area.
Earlier this summer, the city accepted $525,000 in grant money for the so-called 6th Street project. The money came from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development through the state. And the housing group chipped in another $250,000.
In all, the city had $775,000 to spend. But the only project bid came in around half-a-million dollars higher than that. The Anchorage-based Caliber Construction Alaska said it could complete the work for around $1.4 million.
Lee Frey is Kenai’s public works director. He told the city council last week Kenai will likely revisit the project in the future. But it’s on hold for now.
“We had a set budget available for this project to try and get it constructed for the winter for the apartment complexes that they’re building over there for senior housing,” he said. “The bids came in over the budgeted amount that they had for the project, so we’re unable to award this at the time.”
The council considered – and ultimately postponed indefinitely – a resolution awarding a contract for the work. Frey says the city does not know when it will issue a new invitation to bid, and that the scope of work may change to reflect the available funding.
The Kenai Peninsula Housing Initiative project is different from a separate senior housing project happening on the same street in Kenai. This summer, the Kenaitze Indian and Salamatof tribes broke ground on 36 new housing units for tribal elders. That project is also supported by federal grant money.
