Representatives of the consulting, construction, energy, and facility service, McKinstry, with whom Brown County has an energy savings performance contract, presented a $1,258,685 bid to construct a new Elections/Treasurers Building at Monday’s regular meeting of the Brown County Commissioners’ Court. Commissioners expressed concern over the $314 cost per square foot proposed by McKinstry.
According to McKinstry representative Justin Surratt, the cost includes everything for basically a turnkey construction, including furnishings. A $64,471 deduction was offered to commissioners if they accepted the bid Monday; however, commissioners agreed to take no action on the bid.
Commissioner Joel Kelton expressed his concern over the bid amount and stated he felt the bid was high and that the county should go out for bids with other contractors. Discussion began regarding the process and timeframe for getting bids from other contractors to compare; however, County Judge Ray West and Surratt cautioned that the two types of bids would be differing, not giving an apples to apples comparison due to McKinstry’s focus on energy efficiency in the build. Surratt encouraged the court to consider timing, that to be able to complete the building before elections in May, commissioners would need to make a decision now.McKinstry, according to Surratt, is the only contractor licensed with the state that would be able to construct the building from the ground up and guarantee the performance of the building. Surratt stated that other bids would be focused on budget pricing rather than quality of the build in regards to efficiency.
This guarantee of the performance of the building was questioned by commissioners who asked how the guarantee could be enforced if McKinstry ever went out of business. Surratt stated that McKinstry was a strong, stable company, dating back to the 1950s, which has $650 million of work per year and is a privately held company.
Commissioners Kelton and Traweek expressed concerns that the county had expected some discount in the pricing of the construction due to county employees removing the Daniell building across the street from the courthouse, including the slab. Originally, the estimated cost of the construction of the new building was $800,000 to $1.3 million.
The current bid from McKinstry is good for 30 days according to Surratt due to changes in building materials and labor costs.
Commissioners approved a $5.799 million contract in July, to improve county buildings including the Brown County Courthouse, Juvenile Justice Center and Agricultural Extension Office. The project has a goal of making improvements which leverages energy and operational savings that could possibly pay for themselves through efficiency with upgrades and retrofits.
The other phase of the McKinstry project includes the demolition of the Daniell building, the construction of the new elections/treasurers building.
In other matters on Monday’s agenda:
*Commissioners took no action on the burn ban, which remains in effect.
*Commissioner Joel Kelton, Precinct 2, received approval to purchase a new 4-wheel drive pickup truck through a buy board contract, at the price of $29,888 from Caldwell County Chevrolet. Precinct 2 funds will be used to purchase the vehicle, according to Kelton.
*City of Brownwood Parks and Recreation Director David Withers received approval of a resolution authorizing Texans Feeding Texans: home Delivered Meal Grant Program. According to Withers, this will be the 8th year the grant has been applied for and last year it provided $7,007. Funding from the grant is dependent upon the number of applicants, according to Withers, and the amount which is to be received will be known in January. Brown County and the City of Brownwood cooperate in regard to the grant, the county is the applicant and the city takes care of the financials.
*County Judge Ray West received approval to reappoint Barry Miller as a member of the Brown County Appraisal District Board.
*County Clerk Sharon Ferguson received approval to purchase commissioners court software for use in the county clerk’s office. The software will be purchased from E-Doc for $1500 plus $1000/year maintenance cost and county clerk records management funds will be used for the purchase. The program will help with publishing minutes on the county website, giving more transparency to the clerk’s office, which is beneficial to both the clerk and the public, explained Ferguson.
