The Vashon Park District has reopened the bid process to complete the VES Fields and will hold a meeting early next month to discuss bids that come in.

Park District Executive Director Elaine Ott put out a request for bids through the Municipal Research and Services Center (MRSC) several weeks ago, but only one bid came in, she said, and it lacked a required element and was not considered. Furthermore, she has had ongoing conversations with officials at the county’s Department of Permitting and Environmental Review (DPER) since then, and the scope of work has increased, also increasing the project’s cost. In particular, DPER is requiring more paving than the district previously anticipated.

By law, the park district must conduct a public bid process for projects over $300,000, Ott noted, and completing this project is now expected to cost between $270,000 and $320,000. A previous cost projection to complete the project was $158,000.

Ott said she felt it wise this time not to use the MRSC, which is open only to members, but to go through a public process, even though it might not be necessary.

“I am fully committed to doing this to the letter of the law,” she said. “I will err on the side of caution and take the more conservative route.”

Park district commissioners have two options to complete the project. They can choose to complete all of the remaining work to close out the permit this year, by the deadline of Sept. 23. Or they can break the work into two parts, completing one portion this year and submitting a plan to DPER to complete the remainder next year. Companies that bid on the project are to provide bids for both scenarios, Ott said.

While the completion deadline is getting closer, Ott said the project manager for this stage of the fields project, Mitch Treese, has assured her it can be done by Sept. 1.

The closing date for bids is July 7, the same day as the meeting scheduled to review them. The meeting will be at 7 p.m. at Ober Park.