LaSalle County jail chiller replacement bids top $1 million; staff to seek explanations

Four contractors submitted bids this week to replace aging chillers at the LaSalle County jail, and every proposal exceeded the county’s $825,000 estimate, county staff told the Property Committee on April 10.

Staff opened four sealed bids at the committee meeting. The low base bid was $1,077,259 from JB Contracting Corp. of LaSalle. Other base bids were $1,159,000 from Commercial Mechanical Inc. (Dunlap), $1,154,000 from John’s Service & Sales (Oglesby) and $1,449,036 from Helm Service/Mechanical Inc. Each bidder included a 5 percent bid bond and acknowledged addendum number one. The solicitation also included an alternate for additional ground cover and river rock surrounding the outdoor units; alternates ranged from about $15,900 to $27,000.

The $825,000 figure in procurement documents was an estimated cost prepared in September 2025. County staff said the bids now on the table exceed that estimate and that staff will consult the contractors to understand the differences and return with an explanation and a recommendation at the next County Property meeting in two weeks. If the committee endorses a recommendation, the matter would move to the full county board about a month later for final action.

Committee members pressed staff on whether the work could be phased to lower near-term cost and were told the chiller replacement cannot practically be split. Staff explained the project requires taking the system offline for interior work, and that the replacement package includes two units to provide redundancy. Under the contract schedule described at the meeting, outside work (concrete pads and site work) could begin in late August or September, with interior connections and final commissioning performed so the replacement is ready for the spring 2027 cooling season.

Staff also told the committee that the alternate for additional rock and a larger protected area around the units increased labor and cost because crews must work around underground utilities and haul material into a constrained area. The committee noted that the procurement rules the county uses treat the base bid as the determinant of the low bidder and that alternates are only added if funds are available.

No award was made at the meeting; the committee’s next scheduled County Property meeting will include staff recommendations after they have reconciled the bids with contractors.