By PAUL PETERS Whitefish Pilot

The city council announced that they've had enough at this week's meeting.

For the second meeting in a row, a construction bid came in well over the city's estimated cost. This time, the city estimated a total cost of $131,153 to complete the Baker to Rygg portion of the city bike trail.

The city received three bids on the project, one by Sandon Construction Inc. for $158,760, one by JTL Group Inc. for $264,793, and one from LHC Inc. for $189,550.

At their April 18 meeting, the council approved a bid by Sandry Construction for $1,249,110, which was $311,191 over their estimated cost.

Council approved Sandon Construction's bid too, but swore this would be the last time they accepted bids over their estimates.

"I think there's a target on us a mile wide," council member Erik Garberg said. "We're getting fleeced in my opinion. At some point you just have to say 'no.'"

Garberg pointed to several inconsistencies in the way different bids priced out individual items. One was storm drain outlet control fabric. The city estimated the total cost of it as $15. Sandon came in at $370, JTL at $130, and LHC at $17.50.

"They're trying to structure their bid to hide profit," Garberg said.

Whitefish Public Works director did suggest that some of these discrepancies could be caused by the different companies trying to front-load profits by pricing early stages of construction higher, and also hide their costs from competitors, who have access these bids.

Still, as Parks and Recreation director Dan Keyes put it, "We think that the local businesses have an eye on our pocket."

Keyes suggested that the city start looking outside the Flathead Valley to get more competitive bids.

Council member Doug Adams agreed with this, saying "If we can't get the local guys to see the light, we may have to go out of state."

In other council news, the city was asked to begin considering the possibility of air quality regulations. Air has consistently been measured in Whitefish by the Department of Environmental Quality as the worst in the Flathead Valley.

City public works handed out possible revisions to the county air pollution control program, which included extending the control boundary for Whitefish to include areas in the newly extended planning districts, new regulations on paving of parking lots, inspections and open burning.

The Public Works Department also recommended that the city reconsider the use of liquid de-icer on city streets in the winter. Although it was believed that the liquid de-icer would improve air quality by replacing sand, which can contribute to particulate matter in the air.

According to the public works report, in their personal observations they have noticed no decrease in the amount of road dust. At the same time, it said they have received numerous complaints about the de-icer, which can accelerate rusting of cars.

After Wilson's presentation, council member Tom Muri thanked the city for their work sweeping the dust and sand of Wisconsin Ave., making his bike ride town safer.

"My compliments to the city staff on a job well done," he said.

Council voted 5-1 (Phillips-Sullivan) to approve budget goals for the 2005-2006 budget. This vote only gives approval to basic goals set forth by the city manager and does not set a budget for the city.

Council also voted to approve preliminary plats for a subdivision on Idaho Avenue and Lion Cub Lane, and reconsidered Timber Ridge subdivision conditions of approval.