Committee advances selection of Wald Architects for jail master plan phase one; members press for cost restraint

Peoria County's infrastructure committee on March 17 recommended Wald Architects and Engineers for architecture and engineering services for phase one of the county's jail master plan and authorized the county administrator to negotiate an agreement, subject to state attorney review.

Staff said seven firms responded to the RFQ, three were interviewed and the recommendation to select Wald (based in Palatine, Illinois) was unanimous among the reviewers, which included staff and the sheriff's office. "What is before you here this afternoon is a recommendation to move forward with Wald Architects and Engineers," staff member Kyle Smith said.

Wald proposed to act as the prime architect and partner with local firms — KED for mechanical, electrical and plumbing and Maurer (recently acquired by TWWM) for remaining engineering tasks. The county budget includes $3.5 million for A&E across all phases of the jail master plan; staff said the phase-one scope and price will be negotiated before a final agreement is executed.

Committee members asked for clarity on how much of the $3.5 million should be allocated to the temporary kitchen and phasing. "If we were looking at a 10 to 12, like this is going to be a million of engineering for this first phase," committee member Jimmy said, questioning the portion of A&E funds the temporary kitchen might consume and urging skepticism about rising engineering fees. He asked staff to seek more precise cost guidance during negotiation.

Committee member Terry urged staff to limit the temporary-kitchen scope to code-required, short-term functionality so that design costs are not "vaporized" when the temporary installation is later removed. "I would encourage staff in the process of negotiating that we go to an absolute bare bones only what's needed to make code ... to get a temporary kitchen that will operate in the short term until we can build the addition," Terry said.

Staff said the county followed a scoring process and interviews that included the sheriff's office and that the recommendation to negotiate with Wald would be taken to the full board for final approval after state attorney review and any negotiated pricing.

The committee approved the authorization to negotiate by voice vote. Next steps include negotiation of scope and price and return to the board with a final contract for approval.