Turning Point: New bids still exceed agency’s budget

Even with a revised scope of work and an increased contribution from the city, quotes for renovating Turning Point Domestic Violence Services’ shelter are still coming in over budget.

The Columbus Board of Works opened new bids for the project on Tuesday and voted to take the proposals under advisement. According to Assistant Director of Community Development Robin Hilber, the bids were as follows:

• Taylor Brothers — Base bid of $232,700. Alternate 1: $14,500. Alternate 2: $15,200.
• Dunlap and Company — Base bid of $250,000. Alternate 1: $5,000. Alternate 2: $10,500.
• Driftwood Builders — Base bid of $288,200. Alternate 1: $3,165. Alternate 2: $15,895.

The shelter currently has 25 beds and plans to add 15 more through this remodel, said Turning Point President Whittney Loyd.

The Board of Works previously opened bids on the project in late February. At the time, even the lowest base bid was almost $100,000 more than the $149,000 that the city planned to contribute to the project.

Since then, the architect has planned out certain changes to the project in order to reduce costs, said Hilber. And, the city is now planning to contribute close to $220,000 to the remodel.

“We know that this is a very important project, and we wanted to make sure that it was able to be done,” she said.

In regards to the new bids, she’s concerned that they’re once again too expensive but added that officials will need to take time to review the details.

The bids received by the board in February were as follows:

• Taylor Brothers — Base bid of $237,000. Alternate 1: $15,000. Alternate 2: $17,000.
• Dunlap and Company — Base bid of $245,000. Alternate 1: $2,500. Alternate 2: $6,500.
• Repp and Mundt — Base bid of $273,841. Alternate 1: $17,722. Alternate 2: $12,583.
• Driftwood Builders — Base bid of $334,980. Alternate 1: $12,590. Alternate 2: $15,895.

“We will talk with Turning Point because this is an important project,” said Hilber. “However, even with the changes, bids were only nominally reduced and are still above budget.”