Story posted Thursday, July 2, 2009
New Fire Station Bid Comes In At $5.5 Million
By CRAIG ADAMS Journal & Topics Reporter
Changes and advances to the plans for new public facilities highlighted the Wheeling Village Board meeting on Monday, June 29.
The board agreed to a bid for a new fire station planned for 499 S. Milwaukee Ave. The village's contractor for the project, Williams Design Build, presented a total of $5.5 million for the construction phase of the project. Those include masonry, concrete work, electrical, plumbing, and a 5% contingency allowance.
In April, the board approved the earthwork, site utilities, and paving at a total of just under a half million dollars. The two phases total just more than $6 million, nearly a full million dollars less than the original estimate for the project.
There are two items not covered by the contract with Williams Design Build: furniture, fixtures, and equipment and a freestanding monument sign. However, the village staff feels those should total less than $200,000, keeping the project still well under budget.
The board also agreed to another change order for the Public Works facility.
"We cut one part of the cost so we had money available to do that work," explained Village Manager Mark Rooney. The board agreed to leave a section used for outside storage with a rock base instead of paving it. The money saved will be used instead to stabilize the soil for the rest of the site. "You can't build structures or parking lots over bad soil, otherwise they tend to crumble and crack," Rooney explained.
The contractor will either use a liming process to help dry the former wetlands area or fill the area with rock. The change carries a worst-case cost of $100,000, he added.
The board also agreed to two contracts for furniture for the public works facility including $100,000 for new furniture and $35,000 for refurbished furniture.
Finally, the board sent preliminary plans for police department renovations to the Plan Commission for review and approval.
"We didn't get to the dollar amount at all yet," Rooney said of that project.
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