News for
March 11, 2026

 

By Myrna Trauntvein
TN Correspondent

This week the city received the news that the Back 9 Construction (for the golf course) grant application for the Land and Water Conservation Grant was not funded.

“There were many projects submitted to the grant and funds were limited,” said Seth Atkinson, city administrator. “The grant was the main reason that the golf course project was on hold. Now that the city has been notified that our project was not on the state list, it is recommended that the city move forward with the project based on the project funding sources that have been recommended to the city council.”

He said that, earlier this year, a review committee met to discuss bids received by the city for the construction of the back 9 of the golf course.

“The bid documents specified that the lowest responsive and highest evaluation criteria bid of a bidder or group of bidders would be the recommended bidder,” said Atkinson.

The criteria for evaluating a bidder included: the bidder’s overall experience, qualifications, and references, he said. It encompassed all relevant experience factors, which included consideration of golf course construction experience.

Also considered was the bidders approach and creativity. Bidders were evaluated on golf-specific details such as distances and par levels for proposed golf holes and demonstrating comprehensive knowledge of golf course-specific project requirements.

“In addition, also considered was the bidder’s technical understanding of site and integration,” he said. “This included an evaluation of bidders’ understanding of golf-related construction elements including bunker construction, green and tee box construction, cart paths, and fairway and rough construction that extend beyond standard grading and paving work as included in the scope of the project as a design build.”

The cost proposal and value were also considerations, he said.

“This assessment included the reasonability of prices quoted and evaluation of whether change orders were likely to be necessary,” said Atkinson. “Having a solid bid price is critical since the city will be seeking the majority of the funding for the project through a bond issuance.”

Also of importance was the schedule and project management of the bidder.

“We considered the time schedule and availability for a bidder to begin the project as well as an approximate time frame for project completion,” he said.

The city received six bids of varying prices and qualifications.

The bid tabulation for the bidders was for Contractor Lump Sum Bids.

The bids were from Bennett Paving, Christensen Ready-Mix, G3 Golf Group, Geneva Rock/JC Landscape, Mid America Golf and Wagner Golf.

After the committee reviewed the bids, he said, the lowest cost and highest responsive bidder was Wagner Golf for $3,246,500.

“Although their bid was not the lowest submitted bid price, the bid scores indicated that they met the evaluation criteria in the best way to be the lowest responsive and highest evaluation criteria bid,” said Atkinson.

The highest bid was for $5,427,750 and the lowest was for $1,875,681.

Atkinson said that there were some concerns with such a low bid because it often resulted in multiple change orders.

He said that the references for Wagner Golf were extensive and stellar and the recommendation from the committee was to award the back 9 bid contract to Wagner Golf.

“This bid does not include the engineering for the drainage for the back 9,” said Atkinson.

Jeramie Callaway, council member, said he thought that the design build meant that all of the golf course construction was included and had been part of the RFP (Request for Proposal).

“In the RFP, we did not include the engineering for the drainage,” said Atkinson.

Tate Douglas, council member, said that the bathrooms in the club house were in serious need of updating.

That was covered in the bid, said Atkinson.

Travis Worwood, council member, asked what other golf courses in the state Wagner had constructed.

Mike Booth, Director of Golf and Head Golf Professional at Canyon Hills Golf Course, said that they had built the Canyons at Park City, the course at Riverside and others in Nevada.

“He had lots of good reviews,” Douglas said. “He has been on the property and knows what it is like.”

Atkinson said that he hoped the council understood that they would need to go out for the sales tax bond if they approved awarding the bid to Wagner Golf for construction.

“We started this journey six years ago when we negotiated for the property,” said Worwood. “It was something the city has always wanted to do.”

“The PAR tax is healthy right now,” said Atkinson.

The PAR Tax (Parks, Arts, and Recreation Tax) is a local option sales and use tax, commonly 0.1 percent, implemented by the city through voter approval to fund public recreation facilities, trails, parks, and cultural arts programs.

Callaway said that the city council would still need to approve a notice to proceed. They would need to issue a Notice of Intent to Award (NOIA), an official public announcement stating the selection of a specific bidder for a contract following a competitive evaluation.

Worwood said he would like there to be a clear cap of $5 million on the construction.

Douglas made the motion to award the Back 9 Golf Course Construction Project to Wagner Golf. Worwood made the second and all voted in favor.