Family Court bids lower than expected
The bids for the Ulster County Family Court construction project are in, and it appears the work will cost less than expected.
Bids for the five components of the project, opened Thursday, came in at a total of $7,380,910, said Marc Rider, director of the county Purchasing Department.
Add to that an additional $2 million for the cost of “incidental costs,” which Rider said include the contract with the construction manager and architect, and another $900,000, which Rider said he will recommend for contingency costs, and the total for the project stands at $10.3 million, slightly less than the $10.8
million the county originally projected.
County Legislature Chairman Ken Ronk said he intends to call a special meeting of the Legislature later this month to approve the contracts and to authorize the issuance of bonds to pay for the project.
“I believe that it’s important to hold a special meeting,” said Ronk, R-Wallkill. “We could probably have resolutions prepared to vote on [at the Legislature’s regular meeting on Oct. 17], but I think this is too important to vote on with only a couple of minutes to look at the resolutions.
“We want to make sure we get this project done right and on time because
having it done on time is important to having it done on budget.”
Rider said if the Legislature approves the resolutions this month, construction can begin in November.
“The goal is for Family Court to be operational by Jan. 1, 2018,” Rider said.
Ulster County is moving its Family Court operations from leased space at 16 Lucas Ave. in the city of Kingston to the countyowned Business Resource Center in the town of Ulster in response to increasing pressure from the state Office of Court Administration, which called the current facility “wholly inadequate.”
At one point, the state warned that the county’s continued failure to act could result in the loss of state aid.
Although county voters overwhelmingly approved the move last November and the county Legislature legislators approved the first resolutions to move the project forward, the plan has not been without controversy.
The Kingston Common Council voted 8-0 to oppose the move, and Democratic county lawmakers David Donaldson of Kingston and John Parete of Boiceville actively campaigned against the measure, saying the county ignored other potential solutions, that the project would cost much more than projected and that taking Family Court out of county seat would hurt Uptown Kingston businesses.
That the bids came in below initial projections, Ronk said, is “vindication for those of us who were supportive of the project for the entire time.”
Rider said bids were received and that contracts will be awarded in five areas: General construction, roofing, plumbing, HVAC and electrical.
• For general construction, five bids ranging from $3,683,500 to $10,478,221 million were received. The county administration will recommend
the contract be awarded to the low bidder, Key Construction Services of Poughkeepsie.
• For roofing, six bids ranging from $1,082,000 to $1,765,000 were received. The administration will recommend the work be awarded to the low bidder, Titan Roofing Inc. of Springfield, Mass.
• For plumbing, three bids ranging from $548,560 to $615,000 were received. The administration will recommend the contract be given to the low bidder, S&L Contracting Inc. of White Plains.
• For HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), three bids ranging from $1,013,000 to $1,239,000 received. The administration will recommend the work be awarded to the low bidder, Vamco Sheet Metal Inc. of Cold Spring.
• For electrical, four bids
ranging from $1,053.850 to $1,534,444 were received. The administration will recommend the contract be awarded to the low bidder, Kasselman Electric Co. Inc. of Albany.
Rider said all the contractors were required to sign project labor agreements.
Rider said the Legislature previously approved a $406,314 contract with the Palumbo Group, of Scranton, Pa., which will serve as the county’s contract manager, and an $849,000 contract with the architectural firm of LaBella and Associates of Rochester.
Rider said the roofing and HVAC work on the Ulster building — which also houses other county departments, including the Department of Social Services and the Office for the Aging — would have been necessary even without the court move.
“We want to make sure we get this project done right and on time because having it done on time is important to having it done on budget.”