Our current shelving in what is known as the North Wing, which is the old part of the building, is the original shelving and it is in need of updating.”
The Apache Junction City Council will consider buying nearly 1,000 shelves with a price tag of more than $160,000 to house the public library’s books, CDs and DVDs at a meeting April 18.
The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the council chambers, 300 E. Superstition Blvd.
The city issued a request for proposals in November for shelving at the library, 1177 N. Idaho Road, and received two bids, Purchasing Administrator Kimberly Heldt said at the council’s April 4 meeting. One from AADS Office Solutions for $147,706.00 and one from Arizona Office Furnishings for $562,438.48.
“Staff reviewed the proposals for technical ability, qualifications/experience, proposed solution/method of approach and pricing, and AADS Office Solutions was deemed the most responsible and responsive bidder. So staff recommends the contract be awarded to AADS Office Solutions in an amount not to exceed $162,476.60, which does include a 10% contingency,” she said.
The purchase is in the current city budget and will be paid with American Rescue Plan Act funds, she said.
Councilmember Tess Nesser questioned why one bid was $400,000 more than the other.
“Those two bids are so extremely high and low. Is the low one actually realistic or did you just go with it because it’s the lowest?” she asked. “You don’t see bids over $400,000 difference between the two,” she said.
Arizona Office Furnishings included items in the base bid that were not requested, Heldt said.
“So that is why it is more. So they didn’t include them as optional fees; they included it as the total price,” she said.
The library was built in 1986 and in 2008 was expanded to a total of 31,444 square feet, Library Director Pamela Harrison said at the council’s April 4 meeting.
“Our current shelving in what is known as the North Wing, which is the old part of the building, is the original shelving and it is in need of updating,” she said.
The current cantilever shelving, which is 89 inches tall and takes up about 86% of the room, has seven shelves with the top and bottom not used, she said.
“(T)he shelving is in vertical lines across the room,” Harrison said. “If you’ve been in that room you know that the shelving is quite tall and the lights descend from the ceiling so there is not a whole lot of space between the lights and the shelving which makes the room quite dark.”
Shelves are on each side of the proposed 66-inch-tall, double-sided units, which will be atop casters to allow them to be moved, she said.
A total of 620 shelves are slated for fiction books; 320 for CDs, DVDs and video games; and 40 for audio books, according to the contract with AADS Office Solutions.
Richard H. Dyer can be reached at rdyer@iniusa.org, or on Twitter @rhdyer. To voice your opinion on this story, connect with us at AzOpinions@iniusa.org.
Richard Dyer Managing Editor | East Valley @RHDyer
Meet Richard Richard Dyer has worked at Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA since 1987, starting his career in Apache Junction as a copy editor and being promoted over the years to work as the editor of the Mesa Independent, news services editor for the East Valley office in Apache Junction, managing editor for the East Valley office, news services editor for the East Valley office and eventually also for the newspapers at INI’s then-Chandler office, managing editor again and as a news editor covering Apache Junction/Gold Canyon and Queen Creek. He helped start the Florence Independent while the news editor covering Apache Junction and Mesa news. In January 2023, he became associate managing editor for the East Valley newspapers and in August 2023 became managing editor for the East Valley newspapers of Chandler/Tempe, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Florence, Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon, while also reporting on Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon.
Community: Since 2009, he has worked as a volunteer to design The Blue Guitar Magazine, Blue Guitar Jr. magazine and Unstrung magazine, which are projects of The Arizona Consortium for the Arts; and since 2014, has been overseeing the art submissions.
Education: University of Arizona with a master of arts in journalism and a bachelor of science in agricultural communication. Also continuing education at Mesa Community College in welding in a metal art sculpture class.
Random fact: Saw his first tornado on May 31, 2010, which was classified as an EF-2, as part of a stormchasing tour group.
Hobbies: He is an artist of welded-steel sculptures, selling his artwork at juried and non-juried art shows.
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