Months after the initial $5.799 million McKinstry Energy Savings Performance Contract to improve county buildings including the Brown County Courthouse, Juvenile Justice Center and Agricultural Extension Office was approved in July, Commissioners approved phase two of the project, construction of a $1,258,685 bid to construct a new Elections/Treasurers Building. This approval comes with no outside bids being considered.
The McKinstry Project contract focuses on the project goal of making improvements which leverage energy and operational savings that could possibly pay for themselves through efficiency with upgrades and retrofits. The second phase included demolition of the Daniell Building, which had been located in the 600 block of North Fisk Avenue and construction of a new 4000 sq. ft. energy efficient structure that will house the Elections Administration and Treasurer’s offices for Brown County.
This is the second time the contract for the building’s construction has appeared on the agenda after it died for lack of a motion due to worries from commissioners about the cost, at $314 per square foot, and having no outside bids to compare. The first phase of the project was approved in a 3-1 vote with Precinct 2 Commissioner Joel Kelton voting against the project and Commissioners Larry Traweek of Precinct 4 and Wayne Shaw of Precinct 3 along with County Judge Ray West voting in favor of the project.Commissioner Kelton explained his concerns with the contract, stating, “I feel like it is very expensive for a pretty simple building. McKinstry is going to use a pre-engineered metal building and is probably two times the cost of what it should be.”
McKinstry Representative Justin Surratt explained the cost of the project includes a higher quality of systems and that McKinstry offers a post project guarantee of up to 20 years regarding the building’s efficiency performance that traditional builders would not provide.
Surratt stated that the way the building will be constructed and the quality and efficiency of the systems and equipment used in its construction will benefit the county with a yearly energy savings of $715 as compared to the average construction that simply meets requirements of existing city building codes. Surratt stated that this savings was not intended to be considered for a payback of the construction cost but rather an icing on the cake as to having a new efficient building for the county.
After approximately ten minutes of discussion, Judge West called for a motion, and after a slight delay, Precinct 1Commissioner Gary Worley made the motion to approve the McKinstry Energy Savings Performance Contracting (ESP) Contract via TIPS/TAPS interlocal procurement contract #2032714 for construction of the Elections/Treasurer’s Building. The motion passed with a 3-1 vote, Kelton voting against the contract.
Kelton stated he was very surprised that the contract was approved on Monday, that after last Monday’s meeting of the court, he felt the contract had been “killed” and that the court was going to go out for bids; however he was surprised that by last Thursday, the McKinstry contract was again on the agenda.
“We had some questions; can we even do this without other bids? I thought we had it killed,” said Kelton.
He acknowledged that the county needs more space than what is available at the courthouse, especially for the County Treasurer’s office, but explained that for now the elections office was not in need as the current lease is basically a trade with the City of Brownwood for managing their election needs, and that there was no reason to rush the decision. He further explained that the court had voted two years ago to tear down the Daniell building to build a new parking lot, which is another present need of the county. With the construction of the new building, parking will continue to be in a shortage, according to Kelton.
“I don’t know what motivates people to make the decisions they make, or why they were in such a hurry to do what they do,” said Kelton in regard to the contract. He stated that although he disagrees with the decisions of his counterparts, that the commissioners are friends and they have to work together through disagreements.
The construction, according to Surratt during last week’s meeting of the court, could be completed in time for the next general election because it was accepted in a timely manner.
Details of the financing had not been approved as of Monday. Certificates of Obligation are to be issued through the services of the county’s financial advisor First Southwest.
