Nelson County staff say social services building design is nearly complete; bid authorization expected next month

Jeff Stodgill, an architect with PMA Architecture, told the Nelson County Board of Supervisors that final drawings and specifications for the county’s new social services building are complete but remain contingent on outside agency reviews.

Stodgill said the project had just received comments from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and was awaiting comments from the Virginia Department of Transportation’s (VDOT) plan review and the county’s site and building review. “I anticipate by the end of the month we’ll have those comments back,” Stodgill said, adding that VDOT has asked for a sidewalk along Main Street and that request has been incorporated into the design.

The presentation included a budget update. Stodgill said an independent cost estimate done in November showed the project within the previously presented budget and that PMA added an escalation contingency and certain allowances (for window treatments and additional testing) while reorganizing other line items. He cautioned that actual bid results will determine final pricing but said a recent Department of Conservation and Recreation bid came in close to estimates and gave him confidence in current projections.

County staff later reviewed a financing timetable for the project tied to Virginia Resource Authority (VRA) financing rounds. Key dates presented to the board include: May 1 (VRA summer pool application due), the May 13 board meeting (presentation of plan of finance and likely request to authorize bidding), May 13–June 30 (bids received and evaluated), June 10 (consideration of financing resolution and documents to set maximum principal borrowings), July 8 (consideration of construction contract award), July 29 (VRA bond sale), and an anticipated closing on or about Aug. 6.

Board members asked about bidder qualifications and bonding. Stodgill said the county’s bid package will ask for qualification statements and references, standard bid bonds and, if awarded, performance and payment bonds. He said a public, advertised bid would be open to any contractor meeting bonding and licensing requirements.

Why this matters: the social services building is included in the county’s capital fund and the design and financing timeline will determine when the county can move into construction. The Board will be asked next month to authorize bidding if the outstanding plan review comments are resolved.

The project remains subject to final review and the timing of financing; staff said they expect to return in May with a request to authorize the county to advertise bids.