Okoboji, IA (KICD)– The Okoboji City Council set a public hearing last week taking the necessary steps to hopefully get more bids on playground update project in Speier Park.

City Administrator Michael Meyers says the process is at this point after the council denied the single bid that came in the first time because it was higher than expected.

The piece that needed to be decided before official publication could be submitted was the time frame in which city officials would like to see the work completed. Senior Engineering Technician Tyler Lynn with Beck Engineering gave the council a couple of different options that could ultimately determine not the bid amounts but also how many offers could be received.

In the end, the council decided to leave both options on the table to see what kind of interest can be obtained from contractors. If the earlier timetable is selected, the hope would be to have the new playground fully completed next June. The later choice would likely not see any work until sometime in August to avoid inconveniencing park users during the peak summer months.