A portion of the Logan County Courthouse restoration budget rejected for high costs

 

[February 22, 2021] 

At the Logan County Board Workshop on Thursday, February 11, the board heard updates from several committees. One focus of discussion was the courthouse restoration project.

On Tuesday, Building and Grounds Chairman David Blankenship would motion for approval of an updated budget for the scope of work.

The initial budget proposed by CTS was rejected by the Construction Technical Committee due to the high costs. Bill Walter of MRTS will take over that scope of work and projected bidding at a greatly reduced cost. Blankenship reminded the board it is a projected budget with just baseline specifications right now. The final budget and specifications will be much more detailed.

Though the budget is just a projected one, Walter said it would at least get him into the ballpark for costs. He will be working on developing the specifications for the bid documents and that will generate the exact costs for these items.

Another motion Blankenship would bring forward is for shifting of the dome and construction management from CTS to MRTS.

This recommendation has come from the Construction Technical Committee because MRTS has more experience than CTS in this area. Blankenship said he is more comfortable with MRTS overseeing the contractors. CTS would still oversee the performance contract side related to HVAC and energy savings.

Construction Technical Committee member George Mencken explained the issue further. Mencken said the presentation from CTS had some estimated costs for some of the work that was way too high, up to 15 times higher than actual costs.

Though Mencken said it can be hard to project costs for materials, all the costs projected by CTS were tremendously high. In one instance, for moving the bell from the roof to the ground, CTS projected costs at $22,000. Mencken said a crane could be rented for approximately $1,000 with the actual work being completed in less than a day.

Mencken said CTS did not show who they went through to get bids or how many bids they got. Walter was able to get his own estimates and specs at a significant cost savings. Walter’s projected costs were substantially less than what CTS projected.

In Mencken’s experience, it is hard to trust somebody coming in with bids that high. He would also have trouble trusting the quality control.

Board member Bob Sanders asked what CTS would still be managing.

If the board adopts the motion CTS would be responsible for the design work excluding the dome, the energy performance contract and the construction management oversight of the energy performance contract. Blankenship said the responsibility that would be transferred over from CTS to MRTS is just a small portion.

The individuals from CTS have strong architectural and engineering backgrounds and Walter said they are sharp individuals. The higher costs CTS projected may have been to cover liability.

CTS is more than capable of developing the specifications. These specifications will be overseen by the Tech Committee and Walter, who will see that they conform with the plans. Walter would be commenting on and editing these documents, then bring them to the Tech Committee before the documents go to the board for approval.

Blankenship said CTS does phenomenal design work, which is why CTS would still be responsible for the design and the performance contract. He just feels the construction management side will be much better handled by Walter with his years of experience. The board will vote Tuesday on whether to approve the motions regarding the performance contract and construction management design.

The board would also be voting on a motion to expend $330,607 for scaffolding shoring / bracing. In doing oversight work, Blankenship said Mr. Walter discovered additional support is needed on the roof for the dome scaffolding.

Though it may sound like this cost will be going over budget, Blankenship said most, if not all, costs would be offset. Mr. Walter agreed the cost would likely be offset. The dome repair is now estimated at $2.2 M, which is lower than the original estimate of $3.5 M. Initial costs for the bracing were estimated at over $659,097. Through four or five redesigns, Blankenship said the cost is down to $330,607. They may be able to sell the steel to offset costs.

During review of the scaffolding shoring base support design, Walter said loose I beams were discovered in the attic. When Walter investigated the proposed design further, he determined the load bearing characteristics in one fourth of the work area were not adequate. New base shoring beams have been incorporated into the designed to compensate for the insufficiencies and make everything safer from a structural standpoint and for personnel.

Board Vice Chairman Scott Schaffenacker asked about selling the beams and whether that is in the scope of work.

Walter will work with contacts in the steel industry and said it should be easy to sell the beams. Steel is at a premium right now and a price can be negotiated.

The board would vote on these motions at their Regular meeting which due to weather was postponed from Feb. 16 to Tuesday, Feb. 23.

[Angela Reiners]