Santa Paula’s own Mendez Concrete to construct Farmworkers Monument
April 14, 2010
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
A hometown contractor with a solid record of community service will build what is believed to the first in the nation monument commemorating farmworkers. Without comment the City Council at the April 5 meeting awarded the contract to Mendez Concrete Inc. of Santa Paula. The dollar amount for the contract was $153,458.
According to a report by Public Works Director Cliff Finley, although two out-of-town contractors had lower bids, their bids contained errors that under state law disqualified them from the process. Draper Construction of Somis submitted the next lowest bid, $133,945, but the document was incomplete and there were problems with the lowest from Sylmar-based FS Construction at $122,535, according to the report.
Finley’s report noted Mendez’s bid also contained a calculating error that understated its bid by less than $3, but it was a mistake that under state law did not knock them out of the running for the job. The highest bid was $175,712.20 submitted by Josh General Engineering of Fillmore.
It is expected construction of the monument should be completed by the end of July. Although the monument is funded through private donations, the city is handling the construction phase as it will be built on public property located at the corner of Santa Barbara and 9th streets in the Railroad Plaza area.
The two-life size bronze statutes of farm laborers have already been completed. The statues will stand on each side of a sandstone wall emblazoned with rising and setting suns; up to 2,000 names of farmworkers or farmworker families will be inscribed on the monument. The donation-funded work - envisioned and started by Santa Paulan Albino Pineda - will be laid out in a quarter circle and be adjacent to the new bike trail.