Commissioners set 4-H building bid packet date
In the most recent Washington County Board of Commissioners meeting, the commissioners discussed setting a date for the 4-H building bid packet, paid for in part with a state grant through River Hills. This was the only item on the agenda for this special meeting, and much of the discussion came down to the timeline.
Commissioner Todd Ewen began the discussion by saying state law does not require the board to adopt a timeline as a separate vote. Officials were doing it “out of courtesy” so everyone who has to live with the calendar (the county, River Hills, John McCoy, HWC, etc.) is looking at the same dates. He stated he did not want anyone to hear urgency as an excuse to cut corners.
“We’re going to follow the rules, laws by the state and those by River Hills, and take the advice of the two firms that we have. Actually three, counting Angie [Buchanan],” Ewen said. “Everything in the bid packet as it is written is based on these three individuals’, companies’ if you will, experience over many, many years.”
He stated the job is “getting close to $2 million.”
Buchanan’s draft gave bidders three weeks. Ewen said that already went past what was considered normal.
“Personally, I don’t necessarily agree with the three weeks,” he said. “I think the industry standard for a project of this size– and it’s not a huge project, but it is one that’s, in the scheme of things, getting close to $2 million. We want to make sure it’s done right for the community. Personally, I would like to see a two-week window to get bids in.”
Commissioner Tony Cardwell disagreed.
“I think we need at least around a four-week period,” he said.
Ewen said Cardwell had already told him he could not make an October 14 opening, which would have been three weeks, so Ewen had been looking at Friday, October 16, which is an additional two days.
Cardwell continued the disagreement.
“The legal is two weeks to 60 days,” he said. “Engineering companies and the standard is 30 days. That’s what they allow for stuff like this. I’ve done construction for damn near 40 years now.”
Ewen said two weeks is the legal minimum. Cardwell said he had texts from engineering firms saying 30 days.
“Let’s just push it back till the next regular commissioners meeting,” Cardwell said. “That gives them an extra six days compared to what you guys got. Gives them a little bit more time to get competitive bidding in.”
Attorney April Geltmaker told the board the law is a range. It is from the first date of publication to a maximum of six weeks. First publication was planned for September 23. The board has to put a due date in the notice to bidders. Bids have to be opened in a public meeting, then taken under advisement for completeness and responsiveness. HWC reviews them after they are opened. The award can come at a later meeting and does not have to be printed in the notice.
Cardwell said extra days matter because a general contractor has to wait on subcontractors. He added, “You might call subcontractors and then it takes them two to three weeks to get their pricing for what they need to give you the price, and then what happens you pencil in a fake number which is overshooting the project.”
Ewen said the consultants had already added time past a two-week window. He also said he did not believe the board was required to vote on a timeline when two contracted firms and the project lead had already recommended one.
They landed on the next regular commissioners meeting scheduled for Monday, October 20. That meeting is at night. Bids will be due when the Courthouse closes at 4:00 pm and opened at that same meeting. HWC’s review period and the award date will be set later, after the consultants say how long they need. Ewen said they could even look at awarding the next day if HWC is ready.
After setting the bid opening date, Commissioner Cardwell turned to the back end of the job.
He said he agreed that the bathrooms and exhibit hall have to be open by fair time. He did not agree with 60 days after the fair to finish offices, framing, drywall, ceilings, wiring, plumbing, flooring, and lighting.
“That’s two months,” he said. “You stack contractors up on top of each other like that and then you end up with fist fights and everything else and people mad because ‘this guy’s in my way.’”
Ewen said a legitimate contractor can frame a handful of offices in two or three weeks, and that much of the plumbing will already be in because the bathrooms and exhibit hall have to function for the fair. He also said the framing for a partition wall during the fair will likely already be up.
Cardwell then said the packet did not spell out a partition.
“If you’re going to leave it open-ended, then we need to take care of the open end on the back end of it,” he said. “You want to stretch this out for four months to finish some offices? Good Lord.”
Ewen said giving contractors a long tail is how jobs stall. He said, “Here’s what happens with contractors, and I’ve seen it thousands of times. Most of them that I know, they get toward the tail end, naturally they’re going to get on with their work so they start another job. And what happens is if you don’t tighten that end completion date up, then they’ll be coming back twice, once a week. Then they’re going to forget what they’re doing. Then they’re going to have to start and stop, start and stop… There are no exceptions. And they do it because they have to, because they have other jobs to move on to.”
Cardwell said he has seen that too, and the opposite. He said, “I have also seen more than that to where you got such a small window to get stuff done, they got contractors slammed up on top of each other, and you literally got contractors quitting because they said, ‘I ain’t got time for this BS to wait on you.’” If the worry is a crew walking off, he said, put a clause in the contract that someone has to be working on site.
He offered to split the difference at 90 days. Ewen said if Cardwell insisted on 90, that was fine.
It was then stated that fair officials do indeed use office space in the current building during the fair and will need some kind of workspace in the new one on the office side of a partition even if the flooring is not down and the lighting is temporary. Buchanan said she has already talked with Dylan Moore about internet and wiring.
The packet as drafted required the exhibit space, restrooms, and electricity to be substantially complete and safely usable by June 7, 2027. Unfinished work then had 60 days after the fair. The last day of the fair is June 19. June 21, is when exhibits need to be out so contractors can come back. Remaining work would restart after June 22.
County Council President Brad Gilbert asked who put 60 days in the draft. Ewen said John McCoy and HWC. Cardwell said he had an email in which HWC worried there was not enough time at the end of the job. April Geltmaker restated the amendment for the record: substantial completion of the exhibit space, restrooms, and electricity by June 7, 2027; remaining work within 90 days after June 22, 2027.
Cardwell moved “to accept the bid package as we amended it this morning.” Ewen seconded. Both voted yes.
Gilbert then asked to make the October 20 bid opening a joint meeting so the County Council can sit in.
“If you can get them here on a Tuesday,” Ewen said. He agreed. Joint meetings usually occur on the council’s regular day, he said, because “sometimes we have a little difficulty getting some councilmen here because they’re creatures of habit.” October 20 is scheduled to be an evening meeting.
The commissioners then adjourned the meeting.
Comments