Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Colfax school board Tuesday night approved a base bid of $12,551,923 for school construction work from Wellens Farwell Construction of Enterprise, Ore.
The number represents a base bid, which was submitted along with a list of 17 alternate bids, ranging from football field lighting to high school chiller replacement.
The board approved the bid package unanimously, after listening to Amy Browne-Minden, project manager, and Ned Warnick, principal, of Design West in Pullman give an overview of the material.
The bid alternates represent things that may be done if money is leftover from primary items.
The bid alternates included a lighting system in the auditorium which can be programmed and operated from a computer tablet or smartphone anywhere in the hall. Another calls for bullet-resistant glazing on the door to the office. The base bid includes standard glazing.
Wellens Farwell is now constructing a new building at Pullman Regional Hospital, which is due for completion about the time Colfax construction is slated to begin over spring break in April.
After Minden-Brown and Superintendent Jerry Pugh went through the bid alternates, Pugh made comments to the board.
“Everything else you’ve seen here is really pragmatic,” he said. “We don’t have the money to do everything. We’re gonna be frugal, do our best to keep on budget. I think we’ve got a good proposal for you and the community.”
Topping the list of alternate bids was $995,400 for the new roof on the gym at Jennings Elementary. Updates to the Jennings gym were bid at $639,700 and the HVAC package for the gym was bid at $160,000.
Total for all of the 17 alternates on the list was $3,727,700,
Funding for the overall project derives from $18.9 bond issue which was approved by district voters last February.
The master budget also includes a $791,000 construction contingency.
“You’ve got a healthy contingency to get through construction,” Browne-Minden commented of the allowance in case of cost over-runs.
The school district received two other bids: $13,240,000 from Chervenell Construction Co. of Kennewick and $12,800,000 from Ginno Construction of Coeur D’Alene.
Warnick noted that Design West’s estimate was three percent higher than the low bid.
The construction bid does not include “soft costs” of the project such as permit fees and furniture.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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