Tuesday, September 10, 2024
By Kevin Boneske
Staff Writer
SUAMICO – At a special meeting Monday, March 23, the village board authorized advertising bids to construct a new Fire Station No. 1 at the intersection of Deerfield Lane and Riverside Drive.
The board agreed to seek a base bid and five alternates as outlined in a project cost estimate from the construction manager, Zeise Construction.
Estimated costs include a base price of $5.19 million for the building, plus alternate bids that include $300,000 to build out the second floor, $206,000 to add a sixth apparatus bay, $11,000 to have a larger concrete apron in front, $18,000 for a larger concrete apron in back and $25,000 for full glass overhead doors.
The second-floor work would make it possible to house County Rescue for the emergency medical service to lease space in the building.
Representatives of the project’s architect, Five Bugles Design, could be seen at the meeting when they appeared via videoconference with board members and village staff spread out in the main meeting room at the municipal services center as a precaution related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rob Krzyzanowski of Five Bugles said the final touches were put on the project’s drawings, which include 103 pages.
“Essentially, the construction documents are now complete and ready for bids,” he said.
Following the bids being advertised March 24 and a pre-bid meeting March 31 via phone conference, Krzyzanowski said bids will be due April 14.
The board is scheduled to take action on the bids at its April 20 meeting.
Krzyzanowski said the base bid includes a shell for the second floor. An alternate bid to finish off that area has a separate price.
Village Administrator Alex Kaker said the estimated construction costs from Zeise are unchanged from the estimate the company provided the village last month.
“The amount we would have to bond for, should the estimate by accurate, would still be just under $6.5 million,” he said. “With the COVID-19 issue, it’s really tough to know where the bids are going to come back at and it’s important to understand that no matter what the low bids come back as, the village board will have the ability to decide whether they want to move forward with the project or not April 20.”
Kaker said the board’s decision to advertise for bids does not bind the village to have move forward with the lowest bids and construct a new Fire Station No. 1.
“You’ll have an opportunity to review those bids on April 20 and make your final decision on April 20,” he said.
Given the effect the COVID-19 pandemic is having on the economy, representatives from Zeise indicated they expect a “pretty competitive bidding situation” for the project.
Five Bugles designed the project to have two stories with 20,550 square feet, including a living quarters area of 6,050 square feet.
The base bid design includes five apparatus bays, while an alternative bid would add another bay with 1,500 square feet and make the total building area 22,050 square feet.
In addition, the overall footprint of the building has been designed to accommodate a potential building expansion of 6,000 square feet.
The Fire Station No. 1 project is scheduled for completion in early 2021.
