$1.453 bid approved for new Colfax City Hall

A bid from Christner Contracting for $1.453 million for the remodel of the new city hall building was approved by the Colfax City Council at its Sept. 2 special meeting. The council discussed the decision during an earlier workshop session Aug. 31, narrowing down what all was to be included from the bidding process.

“Over a year ago we formed a committee. On that committee was myself, the mayor, Bob and the police chief and then two council members that served, Curt Small and Karla Jones,” city administrator Wade Wagoner said. “Since then, there has been a lot of meeting and we did a $1.7 million bond and these are the things we have worked to in that process.”

The council was originally set to bid the project Aug. 10, but with the derecho storm blowing through, the date was pushed back two days. Eight bidders sought out the project with two, Happe Commerical and Christner Contracting submitting the most competitive bids.

Along with the base bid, four alternate bids were considered for the project including a snow melt system, upgraded countertops, a generator system and tornado storage upgrade. The committee was unanimous in two areas, to not do the tornado storage upgrade and to upgrade the countertops but wanted to get feedback from the council on the snow melt and generator systems.

“The two that we didn’t have a consensus on were the electric snow melt system which was anywhere from $10,000 bid to a $60,000 bid. We also had an alternate of a gas powered generator. We received two bids for it, one at $130,000 and one at $139,000,” Wagoner said. “Depending on which of the alternates we choose, it could determine who the low bidder is. The base bids were only $1,200 apart.”

If both of the alternates were rejected, Happe would be the low bidder along with if the snow melt system was selected. If the snow melt system was rejected but the generator was accepted, Christner would be the low bidder.

On the snow melt system, mayor David Mast said he is not in favor of the system for two reasons. First, most of the community doesn’t have one leading him to think community members might wonder why the city needs one.

“The second one being, with eight bidders and things being pretty tight, to make up $50,000 they may be doing someone along the way, cutting corners or extra change orders,” Mast said.

Wagoner also added a guesstimate from the architect on the cost of using the system each year would run at approximately $200,000.

“The electrical, to me it is inefficient,” councilman Curtis Small said. “I have had five instances where I’ve been involved in it and two of them have failed within a year, year and a half.”

After the discussion, the council came to a consensus of not moving forward with the snow melt system. The generator, on the other hand, gathered more favorable reviews, especially after the events of the past month.

“A month ago, would have said eh, we could take out $100,000 but then after being reminded of the storm and being without power for a week, Newton didn’t have power for a week, I was lucky that I was the night shift at the command center, it would be a mess without power,” councilman Brad Magg said.

Having an area with power and internet, if possible, was important to the council in times of need for the city. The council decided to move forward with the generator for the new building.

In a rendering shared of the building’s layout, the public will enter into a vestibule greeting area adjacent to the reception desk and the council’s chambers. Also in the front portion of the building is a work room, kitchenette and public restrooms.

Beyond that area lies the Colfax Main Street office and the offices for the city clerk, city administrator and the mayor. Storage for documents is situated next to the Main Street Office and flex room along with two locker rooms with showers.

The Colfax Police Department will reside in the back of the building and consist of the police chief’s office, officer’s group office, a training room, evidence room, interview room, record storage and storage rooms. This area will be placed behind locked doors and not readily available to the public.

“We are still hoping for a mid-April or early April 2021 completion and move it date,” Wagoner said. “The good news is we bonded $1.7 million and the bids came in both at about $1.5 million so we should have at least $200,000 to buy office furniture which we believe should be more than enough.”

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com