Dawson County staff seek contract amendment to complete public health facility renovations

County Manager Joy Leverett and Purchasing Manager Melissa Hall asked the Dawson County Board of Commissioners on Oct. 2, 2025, to amend the county's contract with Penncorp so the contractor can complete additional renovation phases of a building the county leases for a new public health facility.

Leverett said the county learned it did not receive the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) it had applied for and that, as a result, staff removed CDBG requirements from the project to reduce costs. "We have disappointedly learned that we did not get the grant. But the good news on this is that we will be able to take out all of the CDBG requirements, which will lower the cost," Leverett said.

The amendment request covers work on three phases: the public health side (phase 1), environmental health (phase 2) and the treatment court (phase 3). Melissa Hall summarized the savings staff achieved through value engineering and removing grant requirements: "we've been able to save $482,758 just on the public health department side," and staff reported an additional $260,085 of savings for the other two sides. Hall said the renovations for the second side are $804,783 and that "the total renovation, value engineering and the CDBG cost savings that we've have seen for that is $742,843," as presented to the board.

Hall told commissioners that HVAC and low-voltage work were removed from Penncorp's contract and will be handled by in-house staff or a preferred vendor, reducing Penncorp's portion of the contract by "well over close to $200,000," according to the presentation. Staff also said overall remodeling costs for the commercial construction portion equaled about $168 per square foot, not including a separate $300,000 state award identified for furniture and fixtures.

Staff asked the board to approve an increase to the Penncorp contract and to reduce the county-controlled contingency from 10% to 5%. The presentation listed a contingency amount for 5% as $105,004.69 and described using SPLOST funds to cover the work across all three phases. During discussion a commissioner asked that the amendment be moved forward that night because demolition work is already under way and the contractor is awaiting direction so work can continue.

The transcript record includes multiple dollar figures and a proposed contract increase, but some of the numeric contract amounts are unclear in the record. Staff said the change would add "a little more than $322,000" to the contract; the transcript also included an attempted figure for the revised contract that could not be read clearly. The article reports the amounts as they were stated in the meeting and notes where the record was unclear.

Votes at a glance

Motion to enter executive session: Commissioners approved a motion to go into executive session for personnel and litigation (no land). The motion was moved by Commissioner Gaines and seconded by Commissioner Stowers; the board chair announced the motion was approved. A detailed roll call tally was not specified in the meeting record.

Background and next steps

County staff said they will present an amended contract for Penncorp reflecting the discussed changes and savings and asked the board to move that item forward at the same meeting to avoid delaying demolition and follow-on work. No formal contract amendment vote appears in the transcript excerpt provided; the transcript records only the presentation, discussion, and a request to advance the item. The county manager and purchasing manager indicated that SPLOST funds and the removal of CDBG requirements together will allow the county to complete all three phases within the legal boundaries staff reviewed.