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Behavioral Care Center construction underway; GMP $44.4M and operator RFP to be released mid-2025
Summary
Flintco reported that construction of the Oklahoma County Behavioral Care Center began in January; the guaranteed maximum price is $44.4 million, the project has a July–October schedule for key milestones, and the county plans to issue an RFP for an operator with two advisory-board members appointed to the review committee.
Flintco told the Citizen's Oversight Advisory Board that work on the Oklahoma County Behavioral Care Center began in January and that major construction milestones are scheduled through 2026. "We've started the construction on the behavioral care center; broke ground in January," said Josh Patterson of Flintco during the update.
Patterson reported the project's guaranteed maximum price (GMP) is $44,400,000 and that billed amounts to date total about $1,400,000. Foundations were scheduled to start within about three weeks from the update, with a structural top-out targeted for late October and a permanent-power milestone expected in April 2026; the team is aiming for substantial completion in the first quarter of 2026.
The project has encountered a soft‑soils condition that produced a change order of about $320,000. Patterson said the contractor had purchased most of the required work packages and that about 81% of awarded contract value (roughly $28.9 million) has gone to local contractors; small and HUB firms have received about $4.1 million (approximately 11.4%). The project team confirmed third‑party quality testing is in place and that safety performance exceeded 119 days without an incident at the time of the briefing.
On procurement and operations, county staff described a draft request for proposals (RFP) for a behavioral‑care operator that the county hopes to issue in June or July 2025. Staff said the county intends to have an operator in place by January 2026 so the operator can assist in selecting furniture, fixtures and equipment and complete equipment installations. County staff also said they plan to withhold approximately $4.5 million for FF&E (furniture, fixtures and equipment) until an operator is on board.
The advisory board recommended that two of its members participate in the operator-selection process; two volunteers, Javier Niro and Mike Mize, offered to serve on the review committee and the board recorded that recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners. The recommendation will be forwarded to commissioners, who have final authority over appointments to selection panels.
Several board members raised concerns about contingency levels and transparency. The meeting record shows a small remaining contractor contingency amount (reported as roughly $60,000 in the current buyout) and requests from board members for more frequent updates while construction is active. County staff and Flintco said they will provide regular progress reports to the advisory board and will share additional breakdowns (for example, the number of mental‑health beds in the full detention design) electronically upon request.
Public commenters urged the county to include space for ministry services and to design safe, accessible visitation or chaplain areas in the new facility; county staff replied that the current design includes flexible program spaces that could be used for such services and that staff would follow up with details after the meeting.
The advisory board had additional items on its agenda after the update and adjourned following citizen participation.
