Warren County rejects bids for secondary roads maintenance facility fire system; engineer to redesign

Warren County supervisors voted Aug. 5 to reject two bids for fire-protection upgrades at the Secondary Roads Maintenance Facility after bids exceeded the engineer's estimate by a substantial margin. County engineer Tim told the board bids opened July 18 ranged from about $1.95 million to $2.62 million while the consultant's engineer estimate was around $850,000. Tim said the original plans called for a below-ground tank of about 150,000 gallons that required excavation, a pump and a well. The county will redesign the system to use an above-ground tank to save excavation and well costs and will fast-track revised plans and re-bid the project. Why it matters: supervisors said the bids were far higher than expected and agreed a redesign could reduce construction, pump and well costs enough to make the project feasible within the county's budget. Details of bids and redesign: Tim said DDVI bid $1,945,000 with a bid alternate about $66,000 less, and FE Moran Fire Protection bid $2,623,298 with a significant alternate reduction. The engineer estimate, including contingency, was about $850,000. Tim recommended rejecting the bids and redesigning to an above-ground tank; he estimated redesign work would cost under $15,000. Board action: the board approved a motion to reject the bids and directed the county to redesign the project and seek additional bids. The motion passed by roll call. Next steps and timeline: Tim said the county will seek to fast-track the redesign and hoped to re-let the project in the coming months, with the goal of completing work within roughly 18 months. No contract award or funding reallocation was approved at the meeting.