Martin Hall Construction To Begin Soon Lowest Bid Pleasantly Surprises Planners By Coming In At $480,000 Less Than Architects Had Predicted
Construction will begin later this month on the Martin Hall regional juvenile detention center at far less cost than anticipated.
A consortium of nine Eastern Washington counties was pleasantly surprised two weeks ago when the lowest of nine bids came in about $480,000 less than architects predicted.
Kearsley Construction of Veradale won the contract with a bid of $3.9 million, including an optional $201,000 multipurpose room and sales tax. Even the $4.38 million high bid by Lugo Construction of Fife, Wash., was close to the estimate.
Officials believe the project to renovate an old Eastern State Hospital building at Medical Lake was attractive to contractors because they can work indoors through the winter, when they might otherwise be idle.
Work will begin Jan. 13 and is scheduled to be completed by Sept. 30. Officials hope to start locking up juvenile criminals - many of whom now go free because no cells are available - by Oct. 31.
Earlier last month, the consortium saved about $151,000 when Stevens County sold $6 million in bonds at 5.1 percent interest. Board members expected to pay 5.6 percent before Spokane County decided not to float the bonds.
The lower interest rate shaved $80,000 to $90,000 per year from the detention center’s operating costs. The estimated daily cost of each bed fell from $83 to $76 if all 52 beds are filled, and from $133 to $118 if only the 28 beds currently under contract are filled.
Stevens County Commissioner J.D. Anderson said investment bankers and bond attorneys “just did a super job for us.”
Project Manager Bob Glass, an architect, believes Anderson’s tenacity in cajoling the financial experts contributed to the bond savings as well as lower construction costs. Other consortium directors evidently agreed and elected Anderson treasurer.
“J.D. has spoken very clearly how he feels about high costs and cost overruns, and I think that has done a lot of good,” Glass said. “He’s going to be watching everything.”
Meanwhile, Anderson is going out on a limb to promote an idea that could save Stevens County about $1 million over the 20-year life of the bonds. He and Auditor Tim Gray say a one-year property tax levy of $1.75 per $1,000 of assessed value would allow the county to pay off its share of the bonds early and complete another law-enforcement construction project.
The levy would raise about $1.5 million to retire Martin Hall bonds and about $1 million to expand a planned 911 emergency dispatching center that now is on hold for lack of money.
The expansion would provide three short-term juvenile holding cells to reduce the cost of hauling prisoners to and from Martin Hall. It also would provide more space for sheriff’s offices, which Anderson said are “so small you can’t cuss a cat without getting hairs in your mouth.”
Anderson said he won’t support another bond sale for the 911 project. Although he admitted he never saw a tax he didn’t despise, he said he would like to curb juvenile crime without passing the cost to future generations.
“I’m over 60 and that means that, whenever I’m floating bonds on something like this, my grandkids are going to be paying it,” Anderson said. “I sure don’t want that.”
, DataTimes