In one of the shortest meetings on record, Hopkins county Commissioners Court Friday approved the recommended company to serve as construction manager-at-risk for the trusty housing project.
A review committee Monday afternoon rated the three companies – Tegrity, Sedalco and Harrison Walker Harper – that submitted bids for the project. Auditor Shannah Aulsbrook recommended Sedalco be awarded the contract based on the scoring criteria.
“This selection committee based this off of scoring by fees , schedule (the time they can get the project out), their organization, licensing, their overall experience, their labor’s experience, and their safety,” Aulsbrook said, with up to 100 points available for each area. Sedalco had 709 points, the highest of the three business.
Aulsbrook said the scoring information is available at her office and open to the public if anyone wants to view them in her office.
Monday morning, the three bids received for the project were opened and fees were read aloud.
Tegrity’s quoted fee is 3.77%, general conditions cost of 8.77% and a fee of $7,777 would be charged to the county if for any reason Tegrity provides preconstruction services but the county does not proceed with the project. HWH (Harrison, Walker and Harper) bid a preconstruction fee of $20,000, overhead fees of 3% and a profit of 5%. Sedalco bid a preconstruction Phase B fee of $15,000 and a construction management fee of 5% of cost of work.
Precinct 2 Commissioner Greg Anglin made a motion to, approve the recommendation. Precinct 4 Commissioner Joe Price seconded the motion, which receive unanimous approval from the four members of the Commissioners Court able to attend the meeting. Precinct 1 Commissioner Mickey Barker was ill and unable to attend the court session Friday, March 4, 2022.
Funding for the Hopkins County Trusty Housing Facility would come from the $7-plus million the county has been awarded in American Rescue Program funding, with no local tax dollars allocated for the project. The facility would keep the trustees, who work in the community during the day, separate from other inmates as a safety precaution against COVID-19 or any other illness being spread through the jail, and to better keep contraband such as snuff and controlled substances out of the county jail, officials noted when announcing plans to use a large chunk of the COVID-19 related funding to build separate housing for jail trusties. The Trusty Housing Facility will be planned on county owned property directly across from the current jail facility.
Over the past few months, the Commissioners Court, Sheriff Lewis Tatum, Jail Administrator Kenneth Dean and other jail and sheriff’s office employees, along with County Grants Consultant Beth Wisenbaker have been working with DRG Architects LLC to design a facility that not only meets the county’s needs, but remains within budget and meets state jail standards. DRG is the company that designed the current jail facility.
As is the process when constructing a facility to house inmates, the initial plans have been submitted to the jail standards administration. A meeting was held with the state officials, with some recommendation. Modifications were being made in January based on those recommendations as well as requests made by the Commissioners Court, Sheriff and Jail Administrator.
The revised plans then are sent back to the state authorities over jails, and another less formal conference is conducted. Once any issues are resolved and the plan is given the green light by state and local officials, the project moves into the construction documents phase of the building project. Those are then be sent to the jail commission, and officials will be given a chance to discuss that and provide a time for any formal comments to be made. If the jail commission is not satisfied, then a written response will need to be accompanied by the written design information.
