Chesterton Tribune

 

 

County Commissioners award phase 2 courthouse bids

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By LILY REX

The Porter County Board of Commissioners awarded bids for the second phase of renovation on the Porter County Courthouse in downtown Valparaiso at its meeting Tuesday.

The project drew nine bids in four categories--general trades, flooring, mechanical/plumbing, and electrical. Skillman Corp., acting as the County’s agent and managing the project, recommended the low, responsive bidders Gariup Construction for $1,086,500 in general trades, Midwest Tile & Interiors for $55,775 in flooring, Gatlin Plumbing & Heating for $71,500 in mechanical/plumbing, and EMCOR Hyre Electric for $172,435 in electrical. The total cost of the bid package comes to $1,386,210. The Board approved Skillman’s recommendations.

Dion Katsouros, senior project manager with Skillman, reported the project entails work on the interior and exterior. The judge’s parking area will have added security measures and be widened. There will be a new plaza with brick pathways installed, and the improvements will bring the building into compliance with ADA requirements. Right now, the Courthouse is accessed for transfers to and from the jail from Lincolnway, but the new access will be off Franklin Street. Work on interior restrooms will begin after the materials are ordered and have come in to cause as little interruption to normal operations as possible, according to Katsouros. Another Skillman employee is coordinating to make sure the work doesn’t interrupt the annual Popcorn Festival.

The project came in $288,000 under budget.

“To date we’re trending very well under our budgeted dollar amounts,” said Commissioner President Jeff Good, R-Center.

Other Business

In other capital improvements business, the Commissioner’s approved two payments to Gough Construction for work on the Auditor’s and Commissioner’s offices--one in the amount of $12,600 for known costs on both offices and one retainage payment of $9,100 for the Auditor’s office.

The Board approved their second to last payment to Gariup Construction for the renovation of the Administration Center plaza for $24,096.97. The final payment will be a retainage of $1,206.

Facilities

The Board also approved Director of Facilities Matt Stechly to spend $21,820 to have Tri-State Door Solutions replace and repair the sally port doors at the jail. Stechly said the sally port doors are heavy-duty steel used 20 to 50 times per day, but they are original to the building.

“We’re repairing these more and more and more. I’m starting to hear things like ‘this part is obsolete, and it will take two weeks to get this,’” Stechly said. There are two sally port doors. One will be fully replaced, and another will be repaired to save on costs. Stechly said this workaround may have saved up to $13,000.

 

Posted 8/16/2018

 

 

 
 
 
 

 

 

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