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Beltrami County board approves contract amendments for jail deconstruction design and construction management
Summary
The Beltrami County Board approved amendments to contracts for architectural and construction-manager services tied to the jail/court transfer project, authorizing roughly $390,000 for design work and $425,766 for construction-management services, after commissioners questioned the costs and contract approach.
Beltrami County commissioners voted to approve contract amendments for the jail and courts transfer project that will add design and construction-management work related to demolition, a new sally port and associated site work.
County staff presented two amendments: a lump-sum design amendment for Klein McCarthy Architects to complete the design for the board’s selected ‘‘design option three’’ (the full deconstruction of the existing jail and site work) and a construction-manager-at-risk (CMAR) amendment with Krauss Anderson. Staff described the architectural amendment as roughly $390,000 (plus reimbursables) and the CMAR amendment as $425,766 (plus reimbursables); the CMAR package also showed a monthly management fee of about $39,985 over a 10-month schedule in the materials.
The board approved the architectural amendment after Commissioner Carlson moved the measure and Commissioner Gazic seconded. Staff said the architect had been selected in a 2023 competitive process and the new phase was being added as a contract amendment rather than re-bid because the scope was newly defined after the board chose design option three. The motion carried on a voice vote (recorded as five in favor).
Commissioners pressed staff on the CMAR fee. One commissioner said the monthly CM fee ‘‘seems like a lot of money’’ for a smaller scope — the presented materials described about a 2,900-square-foot sally port, parking and demolition of portions of adjacent buildings. Commissioner Carlson responded that the negotiated CM rate was ‘‘a lot lower than what they started with’’ and that keeping the existing team preserved continuity and reduced the county’s risk as work continued.
Staff also explained cost-control provisions. The CM agreement was presented on a per-month fee basis; staff said if the contractor finishes early the county would pay less rather than a fixed lump sum. County staff also said the county had retained liquidated-damages language in the contract; the materials and staff remarks referred to a $1,000-per-day liquidated-damages provision for this phase (noting that earlier phases had used a larger daily figure), which acts as a penalty for delay.
Commissioners noted the project is funded by sales-tax referendum proceeds the county previously authorized; staff confirmed the amendments are within the county’s project budget. The board approved the CMAR amendment on a voice vote (recorded as carried, five in favor).
Next steps: staff said the design and operations committee will continue to oversee the project, and additional work related to demolition sequencing and bid letting will follow under the contract structures the board approved.
