COLUMBUS, Ind. — The construction of Bartholomew County’s new court services center will likely begin next month and be completed in early 2022.
Columbus City Council approved a resolution Tuesday authorizing the Columbus Redevelopment Commission to spend a not-to-exceed amount of $3,662,670 to engage two contractors — Dunlap & Co., Inc and Barth Electric Co., Inc., of Indianapolis — for work on the building.
The vote was 6-0 to approve the resolution; city councilman David Bush abstained due to having a “potential pecuniary interest.” He told the Republic that his business, Kenny Glass, Inc., has a “letter of intent to do work on the project.”
In January, the redevelopment commission chose Dunlap for general and mechanical work on the project with a combination bid of $3,425,000, and Barth Electric for electrical work with a bid of $237,670.
Project architect Steve Risting said that once these expenses were approved, it would be possible to move forward with finalizing the engagement of both companies. He said that Dunlap is ready to begin work in March and intends to complete the project in 12 months.
Risting, along with David Doup, who acts as an owner’s representative and project manager for the county commissioners, reviewed bids for the project.
Risting said that while the bids came in slightly over budget, the county decided to accept the amounts as they are.
“The commissioners have been a part of this,” he said. “Their desire is to have a nice building and have agreed to proceed with the local contractor, as well as we have local subs with the project.”
For more on this story, see Thursday’s Republic.
