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Lancaster County updates detention center construction: GMP set, site work underway
Summary
County staff reported subcontractor buyouts, site grading, erosion control work and a guaranteed maximum price (GMP) for construction completion; project cost-to-date figures and an occupancy target were provided during the update.
Lancaster County received a construction update on its new detention center project, including a guaranteed maximum price and early site work progress.
Chad Catledge, project lead, told council that the county signed construction amendment number 3 with construction manager Ajax, bringing the project’s guaranteed maximum price (GMP) for construction to completion to $75,000,000. Site clearing, perimeter fencing and grading have started, erosion-control best-management practices are being installed and the project team is working on a sediment pond and soil balancing onsite.
Catledge reported the county’s financials to date: a total construction budget of $90,000,000, just over $2,000,000 in soft costs and approximately $3.7 million identified for land purchase, producing a project cost to date of just under $6,000,000. He said the project is approximately 3% complete and subcontractor buyout and material purchasing submittal processes are underway.
Schedule and technical notes
Catledge said staff remains on a roughly two-year construction schedule and that weather has slowed some activities; he said permitting and a short road-widening work on the site frontage with DOT engagement are in progress. He described a groundwater encounter that was addressed with an underdrain, and a decision to raise the sediment-pond elevation rather than dig through partially weathered rock. He said a pre-construction water-line-extension meeting was planned and expected to begin that work within about a month.
Why it matters: the detention center is a major capital project with multi-million-dollar budget implications, off-site infrastructure needs and a multi-year construction schedule. Council members asked about unforeseen challenges and budget variance; Catledge told them the project is “exactly where we expected to be” financially at this point and that the groundwater and rock issues did not affect the budget.
Ending
Catledge invited questions and said the project team will continue subcontractor buyout, procurement and civil-site work; he said staff expects to return with further updates as construction progresses.
