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| Bids on Jail project lower than expected |
| By Leroy Independent MN |
| Published: 03/20/2009 |
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After Mower County officials and staff took more than two hours reviewing 130 bids for 30 different bid packages for construction of the new 128-bed Mower County Jail and Justice Center, it seems the bids came in under budget for the proposed $36 million downtown Austin project. The opening of the two boxes of bids, which took place Wednesday, March 4, in the Commissioners' meeting room was witnessed by an overflow crowd that consisted of contractors, representatives of KKE architects and Knutson Construction Services, Inc., Mower County Attorney Kristen Nelson and Mower County commissioners Dave Tollefson, Dave Hillier and Tim Gabrielson. The bids were reviewed and a summary prepared for the commissioners. While some bids were deemed by Mower County Attorney Kristen Nelsen to be invalid, it was decided the deadline for submitting those bids would be extended. The duty of reading aloud the names of the bidders and the amount of the bids fell on Commissioner Craig Oscarson, who said the bids would be reviewed and a summary prepared for the commissioners to review during their Tuesday, March 10, regular meeting. Initially estimated to cost $35,424,675, the project bids read Wednesday, March 11, amounted to $30,671,791, or nearly $4.8 million less than predicted. John Pristach, of Knutson construction Services Inc., who will oversee the construction, estimated the building construction will cost $23,097,613, according to the bids. The total was initially estimated at $27,842,356. The difference in the building construction cost and the total of the project bids are expenses such as site acquisition and development, furniture and fixtures, professional fees, etc. Adding to the good news of the lower-than-expected total of bids was the news that Austin-based businesses apparently bid on $8,473,900 (51 percent) worth of work to be awarded on the proposed project, and a total of $12,023,610 or 72 percent of the work, will be awarded to southeastern Minnesota-based firms (including those in Austin). A meeting was slated for this past Monday, March 16, for the commissioners to act on the bids. If accepted, those who will be awarded contracts include: The Joseph Company, $1,361,000 for general trades and concrete work; Schammel Electric, Inc. $2,852,900 for electrical work and Harty Mechanical, Inc., $3,225,000 for plumbing/piping, including geothermal and $1,361,000 for HVAC sheet metal. The commissioners also accepted Winona mechanical's bid of $106,622 to demolish the three-story Robbins block buildings. The one square block of property across from the existing government center was acquired from private property owners with a $1.5 million grant from the city of Austin. Plans are to clear the block for a geothermal well field, which will be covered by a parking lot. The geothermal field will be used to heat the new jail and justice center. Favorable comments from the County Commissioners compared the lower-than-expected bids to Mower County's own "stimulus package." The plan is, of course, to stop the boarding of Mower County's prisoners in other counties once the new jail/justice center is constructed, but as the time to award bids drew closer, critics of the project became more verbal, saying the jails in other counties are themselves only half full. These concerned citizens say the new jail project is unwarranted, especially because of upcoming budget cuts state and county wide and in light of recent layoffs and other financial concerns to taxpayers. Read more. If link has expired, check the website of the article's original news source. |
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