News Articles and Press Releases

6/9/2009

Aurora firm gets nod for work on Ogle courthouse

County board to vote on $5.4 M contract June 16

By Vinde Wells, Senior Editor-OREGON REPUBLICAN REPORTER

An Aurora contractor got the nod Tuesday morning from the committee overseeing the renovation of the Ogle County Courthouse.

The Long Range Planning Committee voted 5-1 to recommend EVS Construction, the low bidder, to the Ogle County Board as the contractor for the project..

Committee member Lyle Hopkins, Polo, cast the only no vote, while Kim Stahl, Oregon; Rich Gronewold, Forreston; Mel Messer, Ed Rice, and Maggie Nye, all of Rochelle; voted yes.

The matter is expected to come up for a final vote on Tuesday, June 16 at the county board meeting. The committee members are also county board members.

The choice was between EVS and Ringland Johnson Construction, Cherry Valley, which submitted the next to lowest bid.

At its May meeting, the county board delayed voting between the two to gather more information about both firm's qualifications.

The two bids were less than $100,000 apart. EVS Construction bid $5,427,600 while Ringland Johnson's estimate was $5,505, 967.

"I think we have to go with the low bidder," said Gronewold, before Tuesday's vote.

Rice, who is county board chairman, agreed. "That's how the project was advertised," he said.

Hopkins, who is the county board vice chairman, said after the meeting that the published notice for bidders included criteria other than lowest cost estimate.

"I think the description in the bid says 'lowest and most qualified bidder.' I think Ringland Johnson was the most qualified," he said. "It was a tough decision. They're both good companies, but Ringland Johnson doesn't sub-contract out as much and they have 60-some years in business."

According to information distributed at the meeting, Ringland Johnson has been in business for 62 years, and EVS for 17 years.

Before the vote, architect Dennis Vovos, from Holabird & Root, Chicago, said the main difference between the two firms is that Ringland Johnson has renovated numerous historic buildings, while EVS has done none.

"That is the main difference between the two — Ringland Johnson has more experience on historic buildings," he said.

"That comes into play more on the demolition side," said county administrator Meggon McKinley.

The courthouse was built in 1891 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Edwin Valle, president of EVS Construction, told the committee that his firm will hire consultants when removing weight-bearing walls during the demolition phase of the project.

"If that (CVS' lack of experience) concerns you, you shouldn't worry about it," Valle said.

However, Rich Hartman, senior vice president of Ringland Johnson Construction, had another point of view.

Having a knowledge of building practices a 100 years ago is crucial, he said, especially when tearing out walls.

"Experience in working on historic buildings is everything," Hartman said. "It take intuition to work on these historic buildings."

Valle disagreed. He said the age of the building is not important during the demolition phase.

"Whether it's two years old or 100 years old, it doesn't make a difference," he said.

Valle said his firm will have a structural engineer with expertise with historic buildings look at any walls slated for removal.

The renovation project is expected to begin as soon as the county board approves the contractor. The work is expected to take 10 months.

Once renovated, the courthouse will house the offices of the county clerk and recorder, treasurer and collector, supervisor of assessments, coroner, animal control, and geographic information system (GIS) partnership.

Bids for the project came in much lower than expected. Originally the construction was expected to cost around $7.5 million.

Vovos said Tuesday that the entire project will likely come to about $7.4 million, substantially less than the $9.5 million first anticipated.

The $7.4 million, he said, includes not only construction, but also furnishings, design costs, testing costs, rent for the Watt Building, Mt. Morris, where county offices are now located for the duration of the project, moving costs, and other related expenses.