Misjudged Dredge: Major Marina Maintenance Miscalculations

[XLFD]

Historical Context

Early in the year 2000, the water levels of the Ludington Municipal Marina were very low, as mentioned in the Ludington City Council minutes of April 10, along with the bid for dredging material from the City Marina:

 

That sum total at the marina is $8280, the next month they had a supplemental expense due to there being more sediment than expected that needed to be removed, which put the total of this dredging project at $13,140.50

 

 

Interim Notes

 

The next year, Mayor Henderson was elected, and a year after he took office, a new City Manager was elected named John Shay.  No major dredging operations were needed during that time.  The inflation rate between 2000 and 2013 was 35%, making a similar operation that took place in 2000 that takes place today expected to be still under $18,000.  The City Council of 2000 and 2013 are completely different.

 

2012:  Plans to Dredge

 

Just before Christmas on the 20th of December of 2012, the Municipal Marina Board laid out its dredging plans for 2013 to accommodate the Queen's Cup Race.  It was estimated that the cost of dredging Ludington's Municipal Marina to a depth of 7-8' would be $20,000, perhaps relying on the figures from the year 2000, but more likely relying on what their original soundings determined:

 

 

Early 2013:  Still the Same

 

The $20,000 that the marina manager envisioned was the same figure that was eventually figured out by the State in their early figurings in January/February for emergency help for dredging, as reported in  MLive 2-11-2013 Article  It was also the same number discussed in the March 21, 2013 Marina Board meeting:

 

 

And just before April as reported in this 3-28-2013 Fox 17 Marina Report: 

"Ron Olson with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources says there are 83 harbor communities in Michigan, of which 58 said, when asked, that they needed the state’s help to dredge. They then submitted estimates of how much their projects would cost.

According to the DNR, the estimated cost for dredging in West Michigan communities look like this: •Ludington Municipal Marina: $20,000"

 

Later on, this was echoed in mid-April in our local paper:  COLDNews 4-12-2013 $20K still although there was a hint that more dredging would be needed (even though lake levels were rising beyond expectations since February, as seen below, blue line indicates 2013 levels)

 

 

The first indication that the work may cost more than $20,000 was officially issued on May 17, in this release on Facebook (and on air) by News 98:  "Ludington will get more state funding than first expected to help dredge the municipal marina.  City Manager John Shay will inform city council members Monday evening that the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is sending $54,000 to help dredge 11-hundred cubic yards of material from the marina's entrance.  The city will begin taking bids on the dredging today  --  they want to have all the work done in time for the Queen's Cup sailboat race late next month." 

 

No similar news release was offered by other area news outlets until after the City Council voted to accept the bids opened on May 17 at their May 20 meeting, nor was there any mention of what possessed the Michigan DNR to nearly triple their amount without announcing the same. 

 

The contract for dredging had a low bid of $213,857 out of five companies (making bids as high as $368,000).  If we presume City Manager Shay's quote of 1100 cubic yards of material was to be removed, that means the low bidder is charging $194.42 per cubic yard dredged, this is over seven times the rate charged back in 2000, which was $27.60 per cubic yard and over sixteen times the amount paid that year when water levels were so low that the Copeyon fishing docks could not be placed.   And adding fuel to the fire of foul play, the contract for this dredging was approved in a meeting violative of the Open Meetings Act.  

 

 

Closed Bidding Circle of Friends

 

In the thread Duct Tales, it was revealed that two companies bid on duct cleaning work at the county jail, and then were effectively shut out of the 'official' bid the county performed later, which settled on the sole bidder that was 250% over the original bids.  The prior two bidders were shut out because the architect apparently only allowed contractors that paid top dollar to gain access to the architect's projects and ignored all others. 

 

Prein & Newhof have a comfortable engineering relationship with the City of Ludington (as seen here) which could be appropriate for the small projects, but is their fairly simple plans for dredging the marina worth the money we paid them (whatever amount it was)?  Like Architect Bill Roy drafting plans for duct cleaning after an initial formal bid, the uncredited engineer that designed the 'dredging schematic' did something that wasn't deemed as necessary back in 2000.   

 

Prein & Newhof also has a policy much like Bill Roy in that they favor for bidding only those people who pay them money to join their club of projects, this is noted in the advertisement for this project(which did also appear in the City's website on May 6):

 

 

Want to join the P&N Plan Room?  It'll cost you some money to gain access to their projects, $100 annually, as seen here: 

 

 

As in Duct Tales, a private contractor of a public agency is able to effectively control and limit access to bidding to other private companies.  These private contractors have no sworn oath to look out for the common public interest when spending tax dollars, only to make their own bottom line better.  They get paid better when their subcontractors get paid better.  That's why duct cleaning goes for $50,000 and marina dredging goes for $213,000 (+ engineering fees), instead of the $18K and $30K that they should go for using past bids/rates. 

 

 

Let's take one final look at the bidders for the marina dredging:  

 

 $286,621 from Gro America. (based in Grand Rapids)

 $213,857 from Great Lakes Dock and Materials. (from Muskegon)

 $368,228 from White Lake Dock and Dredge. (from Montague)

 $259,222 from Ken Adams Excavation. (from Pentwater)

 $296,900 from D.K. Construction. (from Holland)

 

The average contractor is an hour away, and has to travel through two other counties with their equipment.  They would actually be better suited for a project in Grand Rapids (Prein & Newhof's home town), rather than Ludington.  They need to do this in order to come up to Ludington to do dredging work that was established to be about $20,000 worth of work by our Marina Manager, the State DEQ, and Ron Olsen of the State DNR earlier in the year, when water levels were a lot lower than they are now.  

 

One could reasonably question whether that $20,000 actually covered our discrete engineering cost for this project.  Now we just have to figure out where the deep trench (or pockets) our $200,000 in tax dollars went into is located at. 

[Marty Redman]

How does a $20,000 job go to a $200,000+ job  in a months time without any explanation or anybody raising an eyebrow except for the usual Ludington malcontent?  That's a sickening situation and something your local newspaper sees as business as usual.  They didn't make any comment about the increase.

[XLFD]

Ain't it incredible that it can remain at the base figure of $20,000 for six months and then jump up to $213,000 when the water levels are climbing more than expected and there should be less dredging involved.  And all this local public money going to do this so that a few Queen's Cup boats can stay at our city marina's 'A' Dock. 

Much of the literature I have read on dredging indicate that the cost per cubic yard of removal is typically around $10, not including mobilization fees.  So dredging 1100 cubic yards of material should amount to $11,000 plus about that much to mobilize and demobilize.  Here's some links:  great lakes dredging, dredging 101, and geosyntec that discuss the costs of dredging.  Question:  why are we paying about $200 per cubic yard for marina dredging?

[Jane]

This article makes me angry

[XLFD]

Unless you're a dredging company, or someone who made off with some of the extra money by some other means, you should be angry.  Seven City Councilors of Ludington accepted it without question in a meeting that they were told that they had violated the Open Meetings Act.  But this corruption cannot be negated by just a social networking post pointing out the facts; if enough people get rightfully angry, it might.

[Willy]

Another terrific article X. I wonder if there will ever be an explanation to justify the enormous expense that taxpayers will be paying. There must be some logical explanation but I won't be holding my breath waiting for it.

[XLFD]

I'm doing some follow-up research as we speak, and I can see there being a part two to this story.