Eliminating sales tax on purchases is saving the city of Anna Maria tens of thousands of dollars on construction of its new pier.
Mayor Dan Murphy told commissioners March 21 the city purchased the decking for the city pier walkway and the T-end, timbers to support walkway decking, caps for pier pilings and concrete deck panels for the T-end for $528,833.
The purchase saved the city $38,971 over what i+iconSOUTHEAST would have paid to purchase the materials. The city is exempt from sales tax.
No motion was needed to authorize the purchase, as the city contract with Icon to construct the pier allows the city to purchase materials.
Murphy also asked commissioners to decide whether to stain the ipe wood. Both the contractor and manufacturer recommended against staining the wood, and he estimated the savings at $7,500.
Murphy said there are tradeoffs to both sides of the decision. If stained, the city must maintain and reapply the stain. If the wood isn’t stained, it will weather.
However, he added, the supplier said a stain wouldn’t prolong the life of the wood.
Commissioners voted 4-0 not to stain the ipe wood decking for the pier. Commissioner Dale Woodland was absent with excuse.
Murphy said the city soon might issue a request for proposals for the construction of the restaurant and bait shop on the T-end and he also would like the winning bidder to give an opinion on the staining the materials.
Meanwhile, Icon submitted change orders, first asking for a nine-day extension on the project, which was slated to be completed Aug. 26. The reason for the request: inclement weather.
Murphy recommended commissioners deny the request, saying bad weather should have been considered in Icon’s planning.
Commissioners voted 4-0 to deny the extension.
Murphy recommended commissioners approve a request for a $12,000 payment from the city, as well as a one-day extension to the project deadline, due to issues with broken underwater piles from the old pier that obstructed T-end pile driving.
He said city engineer Ayres Associates recommended approval of the request, since Icon lost a day of work and had to drive more H-piles and recalculate its piling matrix.
Commissioners voted 4-0 to approve the request, which moved the expected completion date of the base pier to Aug. 27.
Icon’s third change request was for a two-day extension, due to miscommunication with the pile supplier when the work barge left the job site to load piles in Hillsborough County.
Murphy recommended denial, saying the contractor could have avoided the issue.
Commissioners voted 4-0 to deny Icon’s request.
“Typically, you can’t get a change order if you didn’t plan things out properly,” city attorney Becky Vose said over speakerphone.
There could be a Major design flaw with this project! They should not be using 1×6 (3/4” x 5 1/2”) Ipe on top of 2×4 sleepers with limited airspace between the concrete and the wood. This will cup and twist the surface decking. Not oiling it will make this even worse. Even though we are the largest manufacturer of Ipe decking and based in Sarasota, they didn’t purchase the Ipe from us. Apparently, they purchased decking from a retailer, which is not involved I the import or the manufacturing of the material . If the city purchased from us we would of recommended against the installation for 3/4” decking the way this pier is designed. They should be using 5/4 x 6 Ipe and oiling it to help keep it flat due to the limited airspace between the concrete and the deck surface. We could of even provdided a thicker Ipe decking material in shorter lengths , at a reduced price, which would offer more stability. We left messages at the mayors office but never heard back as we live locally and would hate to see a improper pier design give Ipe decking a bad name.