A&N awarded contract for new fire station in Seeley
EL CENTRO – The Imperial Valley Board of Supervisors voted to award A&N Quality Builders, Inc., the contract to build the a new county fire station in Seeley after A & N was the only company to fully complete the bidding during multiple bidding rounds.
Originally, A&N were the only company to bid on the project, but the State of California ultimately required another round of bidding to prevent sole-source bidding, Imperial County Public Works Department Director John Gay said.
During the second round of bidding both Oakview Constructors, Inc., of Calimesa, and M.A. Steiner Construction, Inc., of Orangevale, also submitted bids, but failed to successfully complete the necessary paperwork on the federal website that manages government contracts, sam.gov.
On Tuesday, February 14, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to award the contract for the construction of the new fire station to A&N.
“I motion to approve. Sole-source bidder,” District 3 Supervisor Michael Kelley said with a laugh.
The new station is estimated to be 4,735 square feet when completed, with 3,760 square being dedicated to the county fire substation and 975 square feet allotted to specifically for a Cooling Center. It will serve as a substation of the Imperial County Fire Department to serve the Seeley community and its surroundings but also will feature a built-in Cooling Center available for public use during the Valley’s notoriously hot summer days.
Imperial County was awarded a grant by the California Department of Housing and Community Development through its Community Development Block Grant Program, for an amount not to exceed $5,177,248.
District 4 Supervisor Ryan Kelley questioned Gay about previous challenges that the county faced working with A&N during the building of the Niland Fire Station, along with issues at the Winterhaven Fire Station done through another unnamed company.
In both of these instances, there where parts of the building were not completely “spec’d out,” creating additional work midway through the construction of the stations, Supervisor Ryan Kelley said.
Gay attributed those issues to inexperience in building fire stations, but said that his experience in both of those construction projects has given him the knowledge to address those issues.
“The difference between Seeley and the other two (stations) is that we have now been through two stations, “Gay said. “There is a learning curve,” he said.