After two separate delays spanning 10 weeks, bids may finally be awarded in a few weeks for construction of the new Bartholomew County Highway Garage near Petersville.
While formal agreements have not yet been signed, Bartholomew County Commissioner Larry Kleinhenz said he believes building costs have been negotiated down to an affordable level.
The high cost of several construction bids received June 13 delayed the groundbreaking for the new highway garage on the north side of East 25th Street, east of the Clay Township Fire Department, Kleinhenz said.
Last fall, the Bartholomew County Council approved a maximum $6 million in bonding for the facility, with several members advocating the use of reserve funds and other financial resources to make up for shortfalls.
The commissioners had originally planned to keep the price tag at $7.5 million, through Kleinhenz later said $8 million wouldn’t “be out of the ballpark.”
But in February, project co-consultant David Doup of Taylor Bros. Construction Co. warned total costs could balloon as high as $9.4 million.
The strong local economy appears to be a significant reason why prices are so high, county officials said. The limited number of building contractors are in high demand among the better-paying private sector, Bartholomew County Highway engineer Danny Hollander said.
The commissioners hoped to save substantial money by hiring a number of smaller firms, rather than one large company, to do the work. Doup had broken down the entire garage complex into eight separate projects that include plumbing, electrical, exterior walls, fencing and mechanical equipment that could each be awarded to different companies.
But half of the projects received only one bid, and many proposals were significantly higher than anticipated, commissioner Carl Lienhoop said. As a result, the awarding of bids was tabled indefinitely while Doup, co-consultant Charlie Day and the commissioners examined their options.
“Over the last month, we’ve been able to work with the low bidders,” Kleinhenz told the council during their Aug. 5 work session. “Although we don’t have the papers signed, we’re pretty sure we’re going to get to where we need to be.”
Based on earlier cost and revenue statements, that implies that up to $1.5 million in costs have been trimmed.
On Thursday, commissioners chairman Rick Flohr said he agreed with Kleinhenz’s assessment. It was essentially Doup and Day who worked with the bidding contractors to come up with alternative, less expensive ways of building the facility, Flohr said.
“We now have the money to start awarding contracts,” Flohr said.
The first delay in construction was announced May 30 — two weeks before the bids were opened. On that day, a representative of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management said there’s a possibility the construction site could be within wetlands.
But a subsequent investigation showed the area of concern is less than a tenth of an acre, and that the water can easily be diverted into a conventional drainage area, Kleinhenz said.
