Woods County approves Alba contract for senior center construction; interior renovation funding still under review

Woods County commissioners on Dec. 16 approved a construction contract tied to bid number 242504 for a new senior citizen center and continued discussion on a separate interior-renovation bid, both to be funded from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars.

The commission voted to accept the fixed base bid (minus certain alternates) and to proceed with change order number 1 for the Alba contract. Speaker 1, a county board member, said, "Funding will be out of ARPA funds." The presenter for the projects (identified here as Speaker 2) told the board the base-bid package could be reduced by value engineering and other adjustments: "we can reduce that with that engineering by a hundred and 30 thousand." A representative connected to the senior center (Speaker 5) offered to provide or pay for some kitchen fixtures and shelving to reduce county costs, saying, "I will take the office back in the kitchen because there's a third office. I don't mind at all."

Why it matters: the two projects together exceed initial estimates and require decisions about alternates, kitchen equipment, and possible reduction in square footage. Commissioners and staff spent substantial time weighing options to lower cost without reducing usable space.

Key details and decisions

- Contract award: The board approved the Alba contract for the new senior center (bid #242504) as the fixed base bid minus selected alternates and with change order number 1. The motion passed with a voice vote ("Aye"). The meeting record did not name a mover or seconder for the final passage and did not produce a recorded roll-call tally in the transcript.

- Price and value engineering: The presenter described a set of value-engineering moves estimated to lower the proposal by about $130,000. At one point the presenter cited a base figure of $1,033,542 for the project in the selected configuration; the larger package of both projects was discussed in the meeting as totaling roughly $1,553,811 before some adjustments and interest calculations. Exact contract totals after all change orders and credits were described in discussion but not restated as a final single figure in the transcript.

- Kitchen equipment and hood: The senior-center representative and the presenter discussed shifting responsibility for some kitchen equipment and the commercial hood. The presenter said some kitchen equipment originally included in the county bid would be removed so that the state or other parties would provide it. Commissioners asked staff to check whether the state would provide the hood; a senior-center representative said she could try to secure some equipment and shelving to help reduce the county's cost.

- Square footage/alternates: The presenter said further cuts would require reducing building square footage, which commissioners indicated they preferred to avoid. The presenter said a plan existed to reduce the building by a measurable amount (described in the meeting as "25" in context), but commissioners expressed reluctance to pursue that option.

- Interior renovation (bid #242505): Staff described the interior-renovation scope and noted value-engineering that could reduce that bid from a figure above $500,000 to an estimated $418,618 (after an approximately $100,000 value-engineering reduction). The board discussed the combined fiscal impact of both projects and funding limits; the transcript records that the interior renovation was discussed in detail but does not show a separate recorded contract award for bid #242505 during this meeting.

Quotes (from meeting transcript)

"Funding will be out of ARPA funds." — Speaker 1, Board member

"we can reduce that with that engineering by a hundred and 30 thousand." — Speaker 2, Presenter

"I will take the office back in the kitchen because there's a third office. I don't mind at all." — Speaker 5, Senior center representative

What the board directed next

Commissioners instructed staff and the presenter to proceed with the Alba contract in the selected configuration (base bid less certain alternates) and to document change orders and the list of items being retained or removed. Staff were asked to continue pursuing credits (including whether the state would provide the hood) and to return any revised, final contract figures or encumbrance requests for further review.

Ending

The approval commits ARPA funds to the approved Alba contract configuration while leaving additional interior-renovation decisions under discussion; staff will supply finalized change-order documents and updated cost figures for subsequent action by the board.