Construction agreement OK’d for county building

The construction phase of the Lake County Administration Center expansion and renovation project is nearing.

Ahead of that, the Lake County commissioners on Aug. 24 approved a professional services agreement with Painesville-based Burges & Niple for construction services.

With the contract — not to exceed $1,225,500 — Burgess & Niple will provide:

• General construction administration services

• Resident project representative services

• Special inspection services • Commission services • Furniture/fixture and equipment services.

“They will represent the county, kind of boots on the ground, with (construction manager) A.M. Higley,” Lake County Administrator Jason Boyd said.

The project includes the construction of a new building at the site of the former Painesville Senior Center at 85 N. Park Place that was demolished in June.

The new building will centralize some of the county departments currently scattered throughout the area such as the administrative offices of the Engineer’s Office.

Other departments on the move include the Department of Utilities, Stormwater Management.

The new building will connect with the existing county administration building at 105 Main St.

“It’s an exciting time for us,” Boyd said. “We’re really consolidating a lot of our offices and agencies here to kind of a unified campus with the ultimate goal of a customer-friendly, efficient government.”

Boyd said after the meeting that equipment should start to show up in the next two weeks. Civil engineering work will be followed by retraining wall and foundation work.

“That will set the stage for steel this fall,” he said.