Friday, July 11th, 2008
Jail bids come in under estimates
Firm to evaluate bids and make a recommendation
By William Kincaid
County officials are pleased with the bids that came in for construction of the new jail in Mercer County. Most bids came in below the engineer's estimates for the $13.2 million project.
"This is the day we've been looking to for some while," county Commissioner Jerry Laffin told a room full of contractors and county officials on Thursday afternoon at the Central Services Building.
Interested contractors were allowed to bid for as many of the five areas as they wanted - general construction, plumbing, fire protection, electrical and heating/air conditioning.
The engineering estimate for general construction was $8.42 million. The five bids for construction ranged from a low of $8.1 million from Peterson Construction, Wapakoneta, to a high of $8.7 million from Roslovic & Partners Inc., Columbus.
"We think we're well pleased," Laffin said about the bids.
The bids now will be evaluated by Shremshock Architects of Westerville, who plan to make a recommendation to commissioners next week.
The construction bids also included alternates, which are items that can be added, removed or downgraded based on the total cost, such as the type of brick or video surveillance system.
Also, some of the contractors, including Peterson Construction and Regal Plumbing & Heating, Sidney, bid on two of the five building areas. Those contractors provided a combination bid reducing the total price even more.
Other bids included:
• Plumbing - ranging from a low of $837,000 from Ohio Plumbing & Electrical, Celina, to a high of $1.05 million from Smith-Boughan Mechanical Services, Lima. Engineer's estimate: $1.3 million.
• Fire protection - ranging from $242,808 from Vulcan Fire Protection, Carey, to $334,527 from Shambaugh & Son, Maumee. Engineer's estimate: $250,312.
• Heating, ventilation and air conditioning - ranging from $1.7 million from GM Mechanical, Covington, to $1.92 million from Regal Plumbing & Heating Co., Sidney. Engineer's estimate: $1.9 million.
• Electrical - ranging from $1.1 million from Sidney Electric to $2 million from Peterson Construction, Wapakoneta. Engineer's estimate: $1.36 million.
Shremshock Architects representative Rick Axline said the company wants to get started as soon as possible - maybe in August - in order to get as much work done before the winter.
The contractors selected for the project will coordinate among themselves while building the facility, Laffin said.
