Moab awards $527,943 Pack Creek pedestrian bridge contract, about $150,000 over budget

The Moab City Council voted 5-0 on Oct. 13 to award a $527,943 contract to Fones Construction, LLC to replace the flood-damaged Pack Creek pedestrian bridge, a bid about $150,000 above the city's budget for the project ^[1][2][3][4].

A city staff member told the council that the bridge, reached from the side of a church property, was damaged by flooding after a fire and had been closed with signs, though people kept using it. The staff member described it as the shortest walking route between the Kane Creek neighborhood and downtown, schools, a pharmacy and City Market. Thirteen contractors attended a mandatory pre-bid meeting and the city received seven bids, which staff said showed adequate competition. The engineers' estimate was in the $350,000 range, and staff said one item in the consultants' estimate was in error and that city staff had not caught it either ^[1][4].

Staff laid out three choices: do nothing, rebid next year with a corrected budget, or award the low bid now. Staff said waiting would cost more and use more staff time, and proposed covering the gap with money budgeted for the Cross Creek floodplain project, which has a similar purpose. Staff also said the city would seek change orders to cut about $20,000, had asked the grant program for about $13,000 more, and would have two employees review future cost estimates instead of one. The contract calls for substantial completion in 60 days and final completion in 90 days. Councilmember Colin Topper said doing nothing was unacceptable because the bridge is a key missing pedestrian connection ^[1][4].

The council also adopted Ordinance 2026-18 on a 4-1 vote, setting new rules for food trucks and for private properties that host vendors. Councilmember Jason Taylor voted no, saying he wanted brick-and-mortar businesses included in the discussion. Earlier he asked which vendors need employee background checks, and said he would like tighter hours for door-to-door salespeople in residential areas, though he acknowledged that was outside this ordinance. The council approved Ordinance 2026-19 5-0, updating how the city grants exemptions from sidewalk, curb and gutter requirements for highway commercial properties and adding exception categories and fee-in-lieu rules ^[1][2][4].

Consultant Eric Sweat of Kimley-Horn presented the joint city and county Safe Streets and Roads for All safety action plan, with adoption expected at a future meeting. Two residents asked the city to enforce its own codes on development near their homes, and both said they were not opposing the Henry Shaw hotel itself. One said work at the hotel site at 836 and 840 South Main had begun with no building permit posted and without the hillside and large-scale development reviews the code requires, and asked that work stop until it complies. The other described years of unenforced violations at a nearby property and at the State Bridge Suites project, and said residents' quality of life is declining. The council took no action on those comments, and the consent agenda, with $651,231.38 in bills, passed unanimously. Council members later met in closed session on litigation, real property and personnel ^[1][2][4].