City government could take up the matter of a contractor for the American Greetings world headquarters project in the next two weeks.

Ward 5 City Council representative Kenneth Brady, filling in for absent Council chairman Michael Killeen, said at Thursday's meeting that tentative meetings of the Committee of the Whole have been set for 6 p.m. Nov. 27 and 5:30 p.m. Dec. 3 at City Hall to discuss the selecting of a contractor.

The Committee of the Whole includes Mayor Dennis Clough, City Council, and all city department heads.

Clerk of Council Denise Rosenbaum said that a meeting can be cancelled the day before it's scheduled to be held, so if city officials decide that they're not ready to take the matter up on Nov. 27, they can still meet on Dec. 3.

The next scheduled meeting of City Council is Dec. 6. If a contractor can be approved, financing arranged, the sale of bonds done and the contract signed before Christmas, work could begin on the project in January.

City engineer Robert Kelly discussed the submitted bids for the city's share of the project in an informational meeting last week. Turner Construction was the low bid at $54,050,132. Panzica bid $59,989,259. Whiting-Turner bid $60,456,030.73. Higley bid $60,921,790.46.

The city's part of the project includes streets, utilities, parking lots and garages, and off-site projects such as street and utility work near the site.

"There's so much that has to happen before we can even talk about setting a date for breaking ground," said Kelly after Thursday's meeting. "This is an incredibly complex process. It's not just the city involved, but American Greetings and Crocker Park as well."