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The Pulaski County Sewer District Board of Trustees had trouble agreeing over several issues pertaining to the remodeling of the new sewer district building at Tuesday's meeting.
In a previous meeting they agreed to take a closer look at the two lowest bidders on the project, but expressed sticker shock at the nearly $100,000 more the project was going to cost than they had anticipated.
Sewer District Board Chairman Gary Porter opened the discussion about awarding the contract with a recommendation that the board give it to Bales Construction.
Porter said he believed the board should award the contract to Bales because he reviewed the contractors provided by the companies and discovered that Bales would be using around 42 percent local resources while Glasscock would only be using around seven percent local.
Bales will cost the district about $5, 000 more than Glasscock would have, but Porter said he felt keeping district money local was more important.
District Treasurer Nathan Purdome moved to accept Bales' bid with the amendment that the board not take any of the alternate ideas except the deduction they would get for not taking the walls all the way up.
No board members seconded the motion and it died, prompting more discussion among the board.
District Trustee Ray Campbell and District Vice Chairman Bob Simpson expressed concern over the cost of the remodeling.
“I'm wondering if we need to review our plan... rejecting all bids and reviewing the plans to see if we can bring the costs down a little more,” Simpson said.
Campbell said, “Maybe we need to take another look at it. I tend to agree with Bob.”
Jack Mentink of Integrity Engineering said there were ways the board could cut costs such as cutting out masonry work on the exterior facade which could save the district “in the neighborhood of $35,000 - $36,000,” however, Mentink warned that a step light that would significantly alter the look of the building.”
Porter said, “We want something to be proud of.”
Mentink said the plans for the new office building were plain and economical saying, “There's not a lot of things to take out of this project unless you get into things like taking the facade off and that's going to change appearance.”
Porter said, “you can pay now or pay later,” in reference to cutting costs on materials and appearance.
Secretary Carl Jensen said he felt the board should go ahead and award the contract to either Bales or Glasscock Construction to move forward with the project because the other office is too small and the costs weren't going to go down. Jensen went on to encourage Purdome to motion again promising that it would be seconded.
Purdome motioned, Jensen seconded and it went to a roll call vote after the second reading of the ordinance. Porter, Purdome, and Jensen voted yes, while Campbell abstained and Simpson voted no passing the ordinance to accept the bid of Bales construction with three votes.
The Pulaski County Sewer District Board of Trustees had trouble agreeing over several issues pertaining to the remodeling of the new sewer district building at Tuesday's meeting.
In a previous meeting they agreed to take a closer look at the two lowest bidders on the project, but expressed sticker shock at the nearly $100,000 more the project was going to cost than they had anticipated.
Sewer District Board Chairman Gary Porter opened the discussion about awarding the contract with a recommendation that the board give it to Bales Construction.
Porter said he believed the board should award the contract to Bales because he reviewed the contractors provided by the companies and discovered that Bales would be using around 42 percent local resources while Glasscock would only be using around seven percent local.
Bales will cost the district about $5, 000 more than Glasscock would have, but Porter said he felt keeping district money local was more important.
District Treasurer Nathan Purdome moved to accept Bales' bid with the amendment that the board not take any of the alternate ideas except the deduction they would get for not taking the walls all the way up.
No board members seconded the motion and it died, prompting more discussion among the board.
District Trustee Ray Campbell and District Vice Chairman Bob Simpson expressed concern over the cost of the remodeling.
“I'm wondering if we need to review our plan... rejecting all bids and reviewing the plans to see if we can bring the costs down a little more,” Simpson said.
Campbell said, “Maybe we need to take another look at it. I tend to agree with Bob.”
Jack Mentink of Integrity Engineering said there were ways the board could cut costs such as cutting out masonry work on the exterior facade which could save the district “in the neighborhood of $35,000 - $36,000,” however, Mentink warned that a step light that would significantly alter the look of the building.”
Porter said, “We want something to be proud of.”
Mentink said the plans for the new office building were plain and economical saying, “There's not a lot of things to take out of this project unless you get into things like taking the facade off and that's going to change appearance.”
Porter said, “you can pay now or pay later,” in reference to cutting costs on materials and appearance.
Secretary Carl Jensen said he felt the board should go ahead and award the contract to either Bales or Glasscock Construction to move forward with the project because the other office is too small and the costs weren't going to go down. Jensen went on to encourage Purdome to motion again promising that it would be seconded.
Purdome motioned, Jensen seconded and it went to a roll call vote after the second reading of the ordinance. Porter, Purdome, and Jensen voted yes, while Campbell abstained and Simpson voted no passing the ordinance to accept the bid of Bales construction with three votes.
