Seneca County commissioners opened bids on Dec. 30 for mechanical work at the county Job and Family Services facility, a procurement the board described during its regular meeting.

Barb Patterson, who introduced the bid opening for the county, said the engineer's estimate for the project was about $260,000 and read five bids aloud. "First bid is from Titan Mechanical, and their bid is $300,200," Patterson said. She also recorded offers from Rob Gilsdorf ($281,700), Earl Mechanical ($279,868), Krayz Weld LLC doing business as CW Mechanical and Plumbing ($344,864) and Industrial Power Systems ($298,000).

Patterson said she would meet with Ed, the county maintenance supervisor, and Chad Gosche of Fishback to review bids and move toward a contract. "We'll sit with Ed, our maintenance supervisor, and Chad Gosche from Fishback, and we'll review, and we'll go from there," she said. Patterson added the county hopes to enter into a contract in about a week.

The board did not take further action on the bids during the meeting. Commissioners and staff discussed the short turnaround time over the holiday schedule and thanked bidders for responding. The transcript identifies the work as for "job and family services" and (in one line) uses the phrasing "sugar replacement," which was not clarified at the meeting.

Next steps: county staff and the consultant will evaluate bids against the engineer's estimate, reference specifications, and funding availability before returning to the board with a recommendation to award a contract.