Times Chronicle & Public Spirit
Contract awards include added $2.1M for Justice Center
Montgomery County Commissioners authorized nearly $11 million in contracts on Thursday, which included a $2.1 million contract amendment concerning the ongoing justice center project.
Representatives within the Montgomery County Department of Assets and Infrastructure cited an “an elongated project schedule” and “a revision of fees for the copper roofing on the historic courthouse” as reasons for the seven-figure increase.
The original agreement with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, of Washington, D.C., covered architectural and engineering services for the Montgomery County Justice Center project. According to a previously advertised request for proposals, the scope included designing the project, constructing the justice center, as well as renovating Hancock Square and the facility’s existing court buildings.
The required $2,122,038 will come from the county’s capital improvement program fund, according to the contract, in which the new value stands at $29,566,407.
The increase was a concern for Ambler resident David Morgan, who used his public comment to address the latest increase, citing another $1.3 million contract awarded earlier this month to four Pennsylvania area firms for “construction services to facilitate temporary office swing space in One Montgomery Plaza.”
“I’m really concerned that even the design part is getting up there,” Morgan said, expressing his reservations about monitoring spending and keeping costs low.
Montgomery County Commissioner Tom DiBello acknowledged the price tags associated with the aforementioned contract, but stressed the previously $1.3 million allocated was already budgeted.
“I am overseeing and
watching those numbers very closely,” DiBello said, adding that “I questioned the additional expenditures that you referred to, which are related to the project going longer than anticipated.”
“Any time you do a construction project, you run the risk of a timeline being extended,” DiBello later told MediaNews Group, citing several factors including weather and supply chain issues.
The $415 million project is anticipated to revamp the county’s judicial infrastructure and further bolster revitalization efforts in the county seat of Norristown. It’s unclear how long the project’s timetable will be extended.
Also related to the county campus plan, county commissioners authorized another $167,636 related to construction services at One Montgomery Plaza. While the original contract with Guy M. Cooper, of Willow Grove, covered mechanical upgrades” to the building at 425 Swede St., the amendment “provide(d) for the repair of items uncovered during the upgrade that were beyond the scope of the original scope.”
That contract now stands at $417,086, according to the agreement in which funding was obtained through the county’s capital improvement plan.
A more than $5.7 million agreement with the Norristown-based Genesis Housing Corporation took up the majority piece of the nearly $11 million pie.
Those funds will go toward
“oversight of the housing construction activities eligible for the Whole Homes Repairs Program,” the contract states. The county program aims to fund initiatives around safety, habitability, energy efficiency, and accessibility.
Approved on Thursday, the contract will continue through Dec. 31, 2026, and includes an optional six-month renewal. Funding was obtained through the state American Rescue Plan Act monies through the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. The Norristown-based agency was the sole respondent to a previously advertised request for proposals.
In addition, a $1.6 million agreement with two Philadelphia area providers procured “evacuation teams” concerning early intervention services for the county’s health and human services department. Early Childhood Assessment Services, LLC., of Erdenheim, was awarded $1.3 million and Pediatric Therapeutics Inc., of Newtown, Bucks County, was awarded $300,000. The one-year contracts will take effect on July 1, and include four optional one-year renewal terms.
“(The) contracts provide for an evaluation team to implement appropriate, individualized assessment activities that provide documentation to establish eligibility and address the concerns of the family regarding their child’s development,” the contract states.