Community center revamp to cost extra $4.25M

A long awaited project to remodel the community center at Rengstorff Park is now expected to cost $4.25 million more than originally estimated. The new cost overruns bring the project’s total price to just over $21 million, the Mountain View City Council learned last week.

Despite some grimaces, council members agreed in a unanimous vote at the Oct. 13 meeting to bear the cost, which are largely due to factors outside the city’s control.

The council originally approved the community center redesign in March, and at the time elected leaders had expressed some sticker-shock at the project’s $17 million price tag. The project called for renovating and expanding the 50-year-old building with about 6,800 square feet of new space, including a new social hall, kitchen and several multipurpose rooms. The project would also redesign the building’s entrances, driveways and parking layout.

Last week, staff indicated the city’s two construction contractors brought back cost quotes that were about 25 percent higher than originally budgeted. That increase reportedly came from a combination of factors, particularly the intense demand in the Bay Area for construction labor, allowing contractors to ask higher prices. City staff also admitted they were inaccurate — to the tune of about $2.6 million — on estimating the cost of performing site work and upgrades to the nearby traffic signals.

Public Works officials pledged this would be last time they asked for more funding for the project, although they explained they had limits on their ability to predict the costs of any project.

“We don’t have a crystal ball, and until we get the final bids, we don’t have a price,” said Lisa Au, principal civil engineer.

Ironically, the city’s own fee policies were partly to blame. The higher construction costs triggered about $300,000 in extra development fees for city administration and public art. In any case, that money would circulate back to the city’s coffers, but it would be effectively go from one city fund into another. City staff members said they could lower these fees if needed.

While not pleased to hear the news, council members said they were still intent on pushing ahead on the community center update. Staff suggested a number of ways to lessen the cost, such as by limiting plans to improve the nearby traffic signals or by scaling back plans to improve the parking lot.

“We could have built this for $12 million about 10 years ago,” said Councilman Mike Kasperzak. “The city is in a position where we can probably finance it as it is, even with the cost overruns.”

The council approved the amended project in a unanimous vote. The project will continue to be designed in the coming months. City staff say they expect to bring back a final design for the council by June 2016.