MOSES LAKE - The Moses Lake City Council requested bids for the new Civic Center's final phase.

Engineering Staff is finishing plans on improvements associated with the 41,300-square-foot Moses Lake Civic Center, now being built next to city hall.

Constructing a roundabout at the intersection of Balsam Street and Fourth Avenue, installing two parking lots and putting in landscaping and irrigation systems for the Civic Center will cost about $350,000 for construction and engineering, according to city estimates.

Council authorized staff to advertise the project for bids Tuesday.

"This puts the finishing touches out front and landscaping around the building," Moses Lake City Engineer Shawn O'Brien told council. "We should be finished as winter sets in, hopefully about the time we're opening up the Civic Center."

Councilman Dick Deane asked what is planned for the centerpiece of the roundabout, saying he's heard a water feature might be installed.

"Not every detail is going to be complete by the time the building is done," said City Administrator Joe Gavinski. "There will be some things that still need to be determined and finished next year and that would be one of them."

Both water and power will run to the center of the roundabout island, O'Brien added.

Construction started on the building last June and should be substantially completed by second weekend in September, Gavinski said.

City administrative, finance and parks and recreation employees will move in at the beginning of October.

City museum exhibits will then be moved in time for a dedication and open house sometime in mid-November to coincide with the annual museum holiday show, he said.

To date there have been about $90,000 in change orders on the project, adding minor improvements or clarifications to the original $7.63 million cost, according to city officials.

The city council approved a deviation allowing a new driveway to be placed within 20 feet of an existing driveway used by police to access parking spaces and a carport.

The proposed driveway will provide a bypass fire access and access to well seven, which is now blocked by the Civic Center and security fencing that will be erected during the parking lot installation.

The Moses Lake Community Street and Utility Standards typically require a 60-foot separation.

"We considered a common access with the police department, but the joint use would be more conflicting than the double access with reduced separation distance, and several parking spaces would be eliminated," Municipal Services Director Gary Harer stated in a letter to council.