By Jessyka Heredia
May 22, 2024 (Lemon Grove) – 
The Lemon Grove City Council was presented with a resolution and appropriation by city staff on May 7 to award a contract to Preeman Roofing Inc. for a city-wide roof replacement project. This project was approved by Council back in December of 2023, which gave staff direction to advertise for bids on the construction and allocated a material contract to Garland Company, Inc. for $467,075.46.
This project is funded solely with federal funds from ARPA , the American Rescue Plan Act that was signed into law back in 2021 by President Joe Biden to provide funding to state and local governments to help stimulate economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the staff report, bids were originally published on February 16, 2024. Public Works Director Izzy Murguia stated at the meeting that three bids were received, but all bids were rejected due to non-responsiveness and were sent out to advertise bidding again on March 29, 2024
ECM reached out to Murguia to explain the problems the city was faced with in the first round of bidding. Murguia responded, “Three bids were received in the original bid advertisement ($607,438, $857,620, and $1,648,800). Two bids did not include a required addendum document,” which were the lowest bid as well as the highest bid.
Murguia explained, “Staff did not pursue the third bid (at $857,620) because: 1) the bid was above our budget; and 2) we believed we would get better pricing by going out to bid again, rather than settling for the $857,620 bid. Preman Roofing was the lowest and only bidder in both procurements.”
The scope of work includes most of the city’s roofs, including The Community Center which was rated as “end of useful life” according to staff, the Fire Station rated as poor with both roofs listed as 30 years old. The City Hall/ Sheriff Sub-Station and Historical Societies’ Lee House both have roofs that are 15-20 years old. However, the City Hall and Sheriff Substation is rated fair to poor condition Lee House is listed as fair. Less work is expected to be done on the Lee House and is reflected in the appropriation of funds per project.
After the three original bids did not move forward, the city advertised a second time with only one responsive bidder, Preeman Roofing Inc, with a bid of $617,438.00 after including a 5% contingency buffer of $30,871.00.
The City originally budgeted back in December the CIP Roof Replacement Budget at $994,900.00, including materials leaving a difference or Appropriation Request for $127,485.00 in additional funds making the entire project cost estimated at $1,122,385.00
Mayor Racquel Vasquez asked staff to confirm that this project was funded by federal funds only. Murguia responded, “This project is all from federal funds, and zero dollars are coming from the general fund.”
Councilmember Alysson Snow stated, “This use of one-time funds is a good example of what we can do if we increase our revenues in the city to make sure that we maintain our properties so that we can enjoy them.”
Councilmember Liana LeBaron asked staff, “What are some of the things ARPA funds can be used for?”
City Manager Romero responded, “If you recall from our ARPA discussions, it was a very small bucket of items. Infrastructure was one, economic development was another Infrastructure, which we are doing with streets and storm drains, and the last bucket was medical/Covid supplies.”
Romero paused to try to recollect what the last acceptable item could be addressed. LeBaron asked, “Was it homelessness?” Romero responded “Yes, homelessness, excuse me. We can use this for one-time homeless money.”
Romero clarified that in order for ARPA funds to qualify for homelessness uses, the funds would need to go toward infrastructure, not contracting a service such as an outreach program, but rather building a facility.
LeBaron expressed that there were many projects the city could have better used the ARPA funds for, including a better economic development plan including creating ordinances to establish limitations on businesses like smoke shops, tattoo parlors, creating a Business Improvement District to help the business district, or power wash sidewalks in the downtown corridor.
Councilmember George Gastil expressed that he thought this was a great use of funds to make sure staff has a comfortable place to work, adding that it will “have a big impact on the City. Gastil noted, “The Lee House is a treasure. It is one of the most special things in all of Lemon Grove.”
Gastil explained that the city has limited money and “sometimes it is hard to say what is the most important thing.”
The Council voted 4-1 with LeBaron casting the no vote. LeBaron explained, “I vote no against this because it does not use the money, the public’s money, the best way possible.”