Another complication could further delay construction on a new Bartholomew County highway garage.
The Bartholomew County commissioners opened several bids for contracts June 13 after the project planned for the north side of East 25th Street, east of the Clay Township Fire Department, was broken down into individual work packages.
By seeking a number of smaller firms to work on different packages, it was hoped that substantial money could be saved rather than hiring one large company to do everything, county commissioner Larry Kleinhenz said.
The packages include plumbing, electrical, erecting exterior walls and putting up fencing, as well as installing overhead doors and mechanical equipment, he said.
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Similar packages were created in 2010 and 2011 to reduce costs on the construction of Mill Race Center, Kleinhenz said.
However, the strategy did not attract a large number of bidders or provide much savings, the commissioners said.
“We didn’t have as many bids per category as we had hoped,” said Bartholomew County Commissioner Carl Lienhoop. Half of the eight projects only attracted one bidder, according to distributed bid sheets.
The project’s two major consultants — Charlie Day of DLZ Indiana Inc. and David Doup of Taylor Bros. Construction Co. — are spending this week examining all bids “to decide which ones to accept, and which ones to potentially rebid,” Day said.
Bids were opened just a few weeks after the commissioners were told groundbreaking could be delayed for two months or more. Testing has been ordered after a representative of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management said on May 30 that there’s a possibility the construction site could be in wetlands.
Based on the property’s history, Day and the commissioners are expressing confidence the testing will not turn up an unexpected environmental issue.
Kleinhenz said he none of the bid proposals were shockingly high.
He was hopeful the total costs would not exceed $8 million, which he said “won’t be out of our ballpark.”
“We have a good feeling about (the bids),” Bartholomew County Commissioner Chairman Rick Flohr said. However, he also agreed with Day that some projects may have to be rebid.
The earliest the commissioners could begin awarding some or all of the bids is Monday, July 1, Kleinhenz said.
