Franklin County approves adding design-build procurement option for certain construction projects

Speaker 3 told the meeting that current county construction procedures — revised after a jail project — prohibit a design-build approach and that the county has struggled with over-budget results on recent projects. "We did the Animal control building twice, and it's come in over budget," Speaker 3 said, arguing the county should ask for turnkey proposals through an architect to better meet budget constraints. Speaker 3 added the approach is legally permissible for county construction except for jails: "It's perfectly legal to do this. You can't do it on jails, but you can do it on other construction projects within the county government."