Cass County board moves to award highway garage contract to Steinberger Construction

At a public hearing, the Cass County Board of Commissioners said it would award the design, construction, operation and transfer of the Cass County Highway Department garage to Steinberger Construction Inc.

The board chair read a written recommendation saying, "the Cass County Board of Commissioners has determined after a review of responses to a request for proposals ... to award the project for design, construction, operation, and transfer of the Cass County Highway Department garage to Steinberger Construction Inc." The recommendation listed Steinberger's use of specific local subcontractors, detailed treatment of building elements (structural details, painting, floor coverings, plumbing fixtures, lighting, doors and windows), a backup power generator, and allowances for shop equipment and furnishings as reasons for the decision.

Jess Smith, invited to comment by the chair, said the need for a new facility was driven by changes in equipment size and capacity: "Trucks are bigger now. Equipment is bigger now. And, building that was built 50 years ago just lacks space, particularly in the shop area, to, be able to maintain the equipment and keep it out of the weather, accordingly." The chair also emphasized Steinberger's local experience and proximity; the recommendation notes Steinberger's home office is located approximately two miles from the job site to aid scheduling and meetings.

The chair compared the two proposals presented in response to the RFP. The recommendation states that the other bidder (recorded as JBK/Yoder) did not list specific subcontractors and that comparable highway projects they cited were higher in cost than the $8,600,000 guaranteed maximum price referenced in the transcript. The board cited examples from other counties — Greenwood DPW (52,000 sq ft, $12,000,000 in 2020) and Hendricks County Highway (about 54,000 sq ft, $19,000,000 in 2026) — and noted a Bartholomew County project at $8,100,000 in 2021 for a smaller footprint as context for cost comparisons. The Steinberger proposal's projected completion date in its RFP response was March 2027, compared with a July 2027 completion proposed by JBK/Yoder.

County attorney Jeff Stan told the commissioners the county had met legal notice and disclosure requirements: "we did provide notice of the public hearing ... in compliance with Indiana code section 5-23-5-9," he said, and confirmed the two RFP responses and the written basis of recommendation had been available in the commissioners' office prior to the hearing. Stan added that a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) agreement would be executed at the conclusion of the hearing "if that is the pleasure of the commissioners."

The chair opened the floor for public comment; no members of the public spoke. Attorney Stan said the record would reflect that the agreement with Steinberger would be executed at the conclusion of the hearing. The chair then moved to adjourn; no roll-call vote on the award was recorded in the public hearing transcript.

Next steps noted in the hearing record are execution of the BOT/contract documents with Steinberger Construction Inc. and administrative follow-up by county staff; the transcript does not include a recorded roll-call vote on the award.