by James Coulter
Expansion may soon be underway for Lake Wales Memorial Gardens Cemetery if a construction contract is approved by city commissioners.
At their workshop session on Wed. Jan. 28, the Lake Wales City Commission reviewed an agenda item regarding the expansion of the Lake Wales Cemetery.
A construction contract for the second phase of expansion is being considered for Tiger Contracting, LLC, for $609,428.73.
In Jan. 2007, the City purchased approximately 50 acres of land at Hunt Brothers and Lake Bella Road. Of that acreage, 20 acres were designated for Lake Wales Memorial Gardens Cemetery.
“The first five (5) acres of the site were designed and constructed and became available for internments in 2015,” wrote Nancy C Hernandez, Public Works Operations Manager.
“As burial capacity within Phase 1 continues to be reduced, staff initiated the next phase of expansion to ensure the City remains prepared to meet future interment needs,” she continued.
The City had received six bids for the second phase of construction. Of those six, Tiger Contracting, LLC was selected, as its bid was “the lowest responsive and responsible,” Hernandez wrote.
At the work session, Hernandez said that the bid was considered favorable as it was submitted by a local company and it had low overhead and low mobilization.
“So, all of those things just came together, which, as a result, gave us better pricing,” she said.
Deputy Mayor Robin Gibson commended the bid as a “dramatic example” of the “strength of competitive bidding.” He was especially impressed by how the bid was about “50 percent of what was estimated.”
This agenda item will be voted upon at the next regular city commission meeting, scheduled for Tues. Feb. 29 at 6 PM at Lake Wales City Hall.
