Hardin County tables decision on hurricane safe room after contractor flags cost shortfall

Hardin County Commissioners Court on April 8 tabled action on issuing a notice to proceed for construction of a hurricane safe room after the contractor notified the county of a substantial cost shortfall and the county’s grant administrator said approval from the Texas Division of Emergency Management and FEMA was still pending.

The county’s emergency management coordinator, Aaron Tupper, told the court the bid was awarded in 2024 but that the project had been budgeted several years earlier. He said there is a funding shortfall the county has asked TDEM/FEMA to approve as a cost adjustment and that the contractor requires a notice to proceed to hold the bid: "The contractors asked us to either issue a notice to proceed or they can't guarantee the bid," Tupper said.

Grant administrator Melinda Smith told commissioners the county has provided detailed cost alignments to the state and federal reviewers and that, while the formal written approval was not yet in hand, the county had an informal indication the request is under review: "It's about, you know, 98 99% when we start hearing that that means [TDEM/FEMA] has approved the money. It is there and available for use for this project. We're just waiting on boxes to be checked," Smith said.

The contractor representative, identifying himself as Charlie of NNT Construction, said subcontractor prices have already risen and that some subcontractors would not hold pricing beyond 60 days: "A lot of them said they had no, can't hold the prices from 60 days. There's been quite a few that said they can't hold the prices," Charlie said, adding he would try to absorb increases "within reason" and provide updates to the court.

Commissioners pressed for contingency planning. One commissioner asked whether the county could approve the notice conditionally; Tupper and Smith warned that starting construction before written approval could leave the county financially exposed. Smith said the county could consider using fund balance if the federal/state overrun is not approved and noted the county’s approximate fund balance: "It's around 10,000,000," she said during the discussion.

After extended discussion about federal delays, turnover at FEMA and TDEM, the limits on changing bid unit prices once a contract is executed, and options such as rebidding or value engineering to reduce scope, Commissioner Cook moved to table the item. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Kirkendall and carried with no recorded opposition. The court instructed staff to return with an update at the first meeting in May.

The county also heard clarifications from staff that phase 1 architectural work had been paid and that no significant county expenditures for phase 2 construction had been reported to date. Smith and Tupper advised that if the county chose to downsize the project or perform value engineering, FEMA/TDEM would have to re-review the revised plans because the benefit-cost analysis (BCA) and occupancy assumptions are tied to the approved scope.

The court’s action was procedural: the notice to proceed was not issued and the item was tabled for further review and an update at the first May meeting.

Looking ahead, staff said they would continue to work with TDEM/FEMA and provide the commissioners a status report at the next meeting and that they would explore value-engineering options if the overrun is not approved.