Title
An Ordinance awarding the bid for Project No. 893 for the Crack Seal FY26 Program to Sweetens Sealing Services, LLC. in the amount of $262,000.00 and authorizing the City Manager to execute an agreement for the same for the City of Lee's Summit, Missouri.
Body
Issue/Request:
An Ordinance awarding the bid for Project No. 893 for the Crack Seal FY26 Program to Sweetens Sealing Services, LLC. in the amount of $262,000.00 and authorizing the City Manager to execute an agreement for the same.
Key Issues:
- The Crack Seal FY26 Program will seal cracks along approximately 63 lane miles of road (hereinafter "Project No. 893").
- Project No. 893 is funded from the Transportation Sales Tax Fund as part of the FY26 Capital Improvement Plan adopted by City Council.
- Public Works Engineering issued an advertisement for bids for the construction of Project No. 893 on August 15, 2025, in accordance with local policies and state statutes.
- Sweetens Sealing Services, LLC. (hereinafter "Contractor") was determined to be the lowest and best bidder by City staff.
- The City desires to enter into an agreement with the Contractor to construct Project No. 893.
Proposed Committee Motion:
I move to recommend to the City Council approval of an Ordinance awarding the bid for Project No. 893 for the Crack Seal FY26 Program to Sweetens Sealing Services, LLC. in the amount of $262,000.00 and authorizing the City Manager to execute an agreement for the same.
Proposed City Council Motion:
FIRST MOTION: I move for a second reading of an Ordinance awarding the bid for Project No. 893 for the Crack Seal FY26 Program to Sweetens Sealing Services, LLC. in the amount of $262,000.00 and authorizing the City Manager to execute an agreement for the same.
SECOND MOTION: I move for adoption of an Ordinance awarding the bid for Project No. 893 for the Crack Seal FY26 Program to Sweetens Sealing Services, LLC. in the amount of $262,000.00 and authorizing the City Manager to execute an agreement for the same.
Background:
The Crack Seal Program is a pavement preservation process performed annually to protect the integrity of street pavements, thus extending the life expectancy of the pavement surfaces. This practice is similar to caulking seams on a house to prevent water infiltration. Crack sealing minimizes water from further damaging the roadways and future pavement failures.
To achieve the greatest benefit, crack seal must be placed on sound pavement. Crack sealing has been observed to significantly reduce the frequency and severity of potholes forming in pavements that have sound base and sub-grade. The timely application of crack sealant has helped control the cost per mile of pavement for pothole repairs in the Public Works Operations budget.
Crack Sealing is a specialized construction process with a limited number of contractors performing this service on a large scale. The limited number of contractors sometimes result in contractors traveling across the nation to perform work.
Currently, the City maintains 1,106 lane miles of pavement. This year, 140 lane miles, or about 13%, of the City’s streets will be treated as part of the pavement maintenance programs. This summer’s mill and overlay program will spend $4.1M to resurface 40 lane miles, the surface seal program will spend $1.2M to seal-coat about 36 lane miles, and this $262,000.00 contract will crack seal 64 lane miles.
Seal coating and crack sealing combined will treat more than two times the amount of pavement that will be overlaid this year, for less than 50% of the cost of the overlay. Using these lower cost surface treatments can greatly expand the scope of annual maintenance programs and extend the life of pavements between re-surfacing with an asphalt overlay. These three techniques, although they only address surface issues, have extended many of the City’s streets well beyond their expected 20-year design life. The pavement management programs spends more than $6M per year plus 3.4M per year on curb replacement to maintain local roads and avoid re-constructing pavements at the end of their design life. Generally, studies show re-constructing pavement costs about ten times the cost of preventive maintenance. So, re-constructing the same amount of pavement maintained annually by the pavement maintenance program would cost the City about $60M to $90M per year.
Impact/Analysis:
Not approving this bid will have a negative impact on the pavement maintenance programs. Re-bidding will likely lead to higher prices, if the materials are available.
Other Information/Unique Characteristics:
Public Works Engineering advertised for bids for Project No. 893 on August 15, 2025. Potential bidders were notified through QuestCDN and on the City website. Four (4) responsive bids were received by the September 3, 2025 bid opening date. The bid was $82,007.000, or 24%, under the Engineer’s Estimate (12% less per unit than last year). The bid prices were under the $370,000 budget allocated in the FY26 Capital Improvement plan adopted by Council. The bids were evaluated, and City staff determined Sweetens Sealing Services, LLC. to be the lowest and best bidder.
Presenter
Vince Schmoeger, Project Manager
Recommendation
Staff recommends approval.
Committee Recommendation