Firm surprises city by cutting price of Possibility Playground work

The Port Washington Common Council on Tuesday awarded the contract for the resurfacing of Possibility Playground to Bluemmel Maintenance Service after the firm agreed to reduce its price for the work. 

Bluemmel originally bid $227,300 for the project, more than the city’s $200,000 budget, but voluntarily agreed to cut the price of its work by $12,000, Public Works Director Rob Vanden Noven said.

“That was a first,” he said of the credit.

The city also agreed to remove the existing surface of the playground, trimming $28,700 from the bid, he said. That work has already been done by the street department crew.

“The removal went great. It was a good rainy-day project for the crew,” Vanden Noven said.

The city will pay about $10,000 to haul away the previous surface, bringing the overall cost of the project to about $197,600, he said.

“With the credit and our crew doing the work, we’re going to stay in budget,” Vanden Noven said.

City workers are also removing a fence and concrete from the playground, Vanden Noven said, work that needed to be done in preparation for the Friends of Possibility Playground to install new features at the playground next week.

Aldermen were enthusiastic about the city crew’s contribution to the project.

“They did a great job,” Ald. Jonathan Pleitner, a member of the Parks and Recreation Board, said. “It’s awesome.” 

The council’s action came after the previous contractor for the resurfacing, Reese Recreation, withdrew its bid because it could not provide the needed insurance, Vanden Noven said.

To volunteer to work on the playground installation, visit possibilityplayground.org and click on the volunteer link.