After a brief public hearing with no written or spoken comments and the swift approval of a motion accepting plans and specifications for the project, Auditor/Recorder Nan Benson began the process of opening the bids. Back in March, the supervisors approved setting aside $2.251 million in ARPA funds for the first phase and ultimately opted against putting a bond issue for the full cost of the desired improvements — between $12 and $13 million — on the November ballot.

Bids were submitted on Tuesday just before the 4 p.m. deadline, and a total of six were received. Most base bids were in the neighborhood of $4 million, with the lowest coming from Garling Construction of Belle Plaine ($3.795 million) and the highest coming from Keystone Construction of Waukee ($4.48 million). Each company also submitted bids on two alternate packages, which County Buildings and Grounds Director Lucas Baedke broke down — the first alternate provided additional restroom options on the second and third floors as well as dock work and a stair removal, while the second alternate included a solar array and additional restrooms.

Once Benson finished opening the bids, Baedke stepped forward to the speaking podium and explained the process of meeting with an architect before it was put out for bid, noting that a pre-bid construction meeting was held with “a fair amount” of contractors in attendance.

“We let them know that the budget was somewhere around $2 million, and every one of them missed it by a large margin. So at this point, we don’t have the money to accept any of these bids. There’s just no way,” Baedke said. “We will have to have some discussions with our architect, and really, this puts us in a fairly big bind because we’re using ARPA dollars that need to be committed by the end of the year. And this was kind of our big home run swing at the end of the year.”

T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY — Jailer Steve Atcher was honored for 20 years of service to Marshall County during the Board of Supervisors meeting on Wednesday. Atcher is pictured second from right along with Jail Administrator Patrick White, left, Board of Supervisors Chairman Jarret Heil, second from left, and Sheriff Joel Phillips, right.

He added that he felt “real disappointment” because an independent estimate was provided to the county through an individual OPN Architecture works with regularly, and the budget was clearly communicated during the pre-bid meeting.

“We really thought we had our ducks in a row here, and obviously we missed,” Baedke said.

Supervisor Steve Salasek asked if there was any chance of confusion regarding the scope of the project, but Baedke struggled to see how that could be possible.

“These guys do this all day every day. This is what they do,” he said.

Fellow Supervisor Carol Hibbs noted that most of the bids were relatively close to each other cost wise.

T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY — Marshall County Engineer Paul Geilenfeldt was honored for 15 years of service during the supervisors meeting on Wednesday. He noted that he had actually worked for the county longer but left at one point before returning in 2009.

“We really thought that with the number of bids that we got and with the current climate, that we would see a favorable bid. I had real high hopes for that,” Baedke said. “But we’ll figure something out.”

Hibbs followed up by asking if there was a way to “dissect” and downsize the project, and Baedke said it could be done — though he wasn’t sure it could happen within the current timeframe. Architect Nate Stieler of OPN briefly joined the meeting via Zoom and offered his thoughts.

“We’ll need to go back and take a look at our numbers and see where we can change the scope of work,” Stieler said. “This is a tricky project being that there’s so many different pieces to it… I think we need to take a look at what our numbers are and see if there’s a way that we can reduce the scope to get it within line.”

The board took no action on Wednesday as Chairman Jarret Heil said they had “a little homework to do” before proceeding. After the meeting, Sheriff Joel Phillips shared his thoughts in an email to the T-R.

“Obviously, we are disappointed in the results of submitted contractor bids, especially with the last construction cost analysis that was provided in late August which was significantly lower than in January. With the six bids being close — I believe within $600,000 of each other — this is a good indication the demand for construction is trending higher along with costs of construction material,” Phillips said. “With the Sheriff’s Office open 24/7, being a law enforcement facility, and a larger jail, this adds to the complexity of sequencing stages of the renovation and processes that need to be in place to maintain security. We will have to work through potential options that are available short and long term.”

In other business, the board:

• Approved the consent agenda as listed.

• Approved the purchase of a temporary easement and a permanent easement from John M. Weitzell and Betty Weitzell for a bridge replacement project over Sugar Creek.

• Approved a 28E agreement with Grundy County for maintenance and construction on 100th Street, which divides the two counties.

• Approved the safety action plan pledge.

• Recognized the following employees for years of service: 5 years — Jailer Mariela Tellez, Secondary Roads B Operator 3 Christopher Donaldson; 15 years — County Engineer Paul Geilenfeldt; 20 years — Jailer Steven Atcher; 25 years — Jailer Daniel Cahalan; 35 years — Secondary Roads Patrolman 2 Dennis Fouch.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.