Adams County committee approves most alternates, rejects EV chargers and awards administration building to lowest bidder

The Adams County Property Committee on that agenda approved most construction alternates for the Adams County Administration building project, decided against two EV-charging-station options and directed staff to award the project to the lowest bidder after the alternates were selected. The committee also green-lit reconstruction of the northeast parking lot using funds from the county’s capital fund rather than the building project account.

Staff presented a bid tabulation showing five bidders and a set of alternates, and the building task group recommended which alternates should be included. As Cynthia of the task group explained, the committee must vote yes or no on alternates before bidder identities are revealed: "Once this committee today determines which alternates... then we will reveal who the builders are," she said. Staff emphasized that alternates were consolidated to avoid turning the job into a multi‑year, disruptive maintenance program.

Safety issues surfaced early. Supervisor Taylor raised concern that blocking a wall near an X‑ray machine would create a potential "fire trap," asking how people would exit if that door were closed. Staff and the sheriff’s office responded that state fire‑code changes had required adjustments (including widening a lobby door to four feet) and that multiple egress options remain. Sheriff York warned that "by opening up another door, you're gonna, decrease the overall... safety and security of the building," reflecting tradeoffs between security and egress.

Committee members also asked about bullet‑resistant measures. Bill Reynolds said those measures are part of the base bid and were not broken out as separate line items: "That's not broken down. It's part of the base bid." Task group members said the project had been estimated at about $2,000,000 and "came in at 1.5" million with alternates included.

On motions, the committee voted to accept alternates 1–4 (motion moved and seconded). Roll call recorded votes as follows: Turco — yes; Taylor — yes; Rocky — yes; Pease — no; Chair — yes, producing a 4–1 margin to carry the motion. Supervisor Poehler then moved to approve alternate 5 (reconstruction of the northeast parking lot) with funding from Bill’s capital fund; the motion passed with the required majority. Rocky moved to deny alternates 6 and 7 (the EV charging‑station options); that motion passed.

After those choices, staff revealed the bidders and the committee moved to award the administration building project to the lowest bidder (bidder number 1) by motion. The committee approved awarding the work to the low bidder "with some reservations," and then proceeded to other agenda items.

Next steps: staff will finalize award paperwork and work with the chosen contractor on schedule and contract terms; the committee discussed but did not set a timetable for final contract approval in the full board. Any future decisions about EV stations were left open: staff said the building is provisioned for future EV infrastructure in the basement, and stations could be added later by vendor or grant.

Votes and formal actions from the meeting are recorded in the committee’s minutes and the meeting packet.