The City of Central is seeking proposals from qualified masonry contractors for its Historic Preservation Rock Wall Restoration Reimbursement Grant Program (“Rock Wall Grant Program”).
The City has established a grant program to assist property owners in restoring and preserving the character of the City’s National Historic Landmark District (“NHLD”) and preserve the district’s structures through a Historic Rock Wall Restoration Reimbursement Grant Program (“Rock Wall Program”). The City recognizes the need for maintaining its inventory of rock walls (also known as dry-stack walls) as a unique historical asset and as an important part of the local infrastructure. It is important to keep the historical walls, repair them only as needed, and only in an appropriate manner, in order to support their preservation into the future and to maintain the character of the NHLD. This Rock Wall Grant Program is intended to enhance the overall historic district by providing property owners financial assistance for the preservation of historic retaining rock walls on individual properties.
The Rock Wall Grant Program provides property owners reimbursement for up to 50% of verified and approved rock wall restoration costs for properties in the NHLD, performed by a contractor licensed and assigned to the project by the City of Central, and to the standards specified by Central City’s Design Guidelines. The applicant may opt to request a smaller reimbursement percentage (10% or 25%) in order to increase the competitiveness of their application. The reimbursement cap is $5,000.00 per residence. The current reimbursement budget for the Program is $25,000, with the possibility of an additional $8,000 in funding.
Due to the flexible reimbursement options available to applicants, as well as the potential for additional funding, the actual budget for work could be anywhere between $50,000 and $320,000. (If funding remains at $25,000 and all applicants opt for 50% reimbursement, the maximum work budget would be $50,000. If the budget increased to $32,000 and all applicants opt for 10% reimbursement, the work budget could reach up to $320,000). City Staff anticipates most applicants opting for 50% reimbursement; it is unlikely that the actual work budget would increase beyond $75,000. A reasonable estimate for the number of jobs is 5 to 10.
The proposer awarded this bid will enter into a contract with the City of Central to restore, rebuild and/or rehabilitate existing historic rock walls for property owners approved for the program by the City’s Historic Preservation Commission, City Council, and Staff. The awardee will work with City Staff, as detailed below, to assess applicant rock walls and create a cost estimate for each. The estimated cost of repair will be one of several factors in determining which applicants are approved and prioritized for the program. The contractor will need to be prepared to work on either a small number of major repairs, a larger number of minor repairs, or some combination of both project types.
After the program participants have been confirmed, City Staff will coordinate with the selected contractor and property owners to schedule the various jobs, which must all be completed by November 21, 2022.
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