TORRINGTON – In a slight break with tradition on Tuesday, the Eastern Wyoming Board of Trustees voted unanimously to reject the lowest of eight bids submitted for construction of the planned Agriculture Technology Education Center, opting instead to approve the second-low bid for the project.
The lowest bid of $5,563,510 was submitted by Anderson-Shaw Construction of Scottsbluff, Neb. Architects Plan One of Wyoming, however, advised against the bid, opting instead to recommend a $6,465,000 bid submitted by Sampson Construction, with divisions in Wyoming, Nebraska and Colorado.
“The low bid came in so much lower, it brings up some red flags,” said Kwin Wilkes, vice president of administrative services for the college.
A letter dated Dec. 10 to Wilkes from Dan Odasz, president of Plan One/Architects, noted the extreme difference between the Anderson-Shaw bid and Plan One’s own estimates, which placed the cost of the project at just shy of $7.1 million. Odasz also noted revisions to Anderson-Shaw’s list of subcontractors, which was initially submitted as required, then resubmitted with amendments, noting work initially scheduled to be done by Anderson-Shaw switched to subcontractors.
Odasz noted the difference between the bid and the estimate raised “concern in my mind over the accuracy of the Anderson-Shaw bid, and their ability to complete the project at that price.”
He also wrote the company had confirmed the validity of their bid via email on Nov. 15.
Further, Odasz noted in his letter, the changes in the subcontractor list was unusual.
“I would have expected the list of subcontractors to be consistent …,” Odasz wrote. “In my opinion (the changes to the list) shows an unstability (sic) in the subcontractor forces used in the Anderson-Shaw bid.”
Keith Jarvis, director of the physical plant at EWC, agreed. While it’s common practice for general contractors to hire subcontractors for specialty work, such as plumbing, heating and air conditioning, the changes is Anderson-Shaw’s subcontractor list after it was initially submitted was “unusual,” Jarvis said.
With the exception of the Anderson-Shaw bid, the next three lowest bids – including Sampson’s – were within slightly more than $418,000 of each other, which “validates the true value of the project,” Odasz wrote.
The winning bid from Sampson Construction included almost $5.3 million for basic construction and an additional almost $1.2 million for site work. Portions of the construction will be funded by a federal economic development grant totaling $1.5 million, said Lesley Travers, EWC president.
The balance of the funding for the ATEC project includes a $3.2 million general obligation bond, with the remainder financed through donations. Travers said the college still needs to raise about $400,000 for the primary project, which does not include a rough estimate of about $300,000 for furniture and other accoutrements for the facility.
The ATEC project was originally bid in March of this year, with bids ranging from about $8.5 million to $9.2 million, well above Plan One’s original estimates of between $6 million and $7.5 million. The board voted at the time to reject all bids and send the project back to the architect for a redesign to “value engineer” the facility, Jarvis said.
The revamped ATEC plans call for a conference room and the same number of classrooms and faculty office space as in the initial proposal. There are also provisions for a lecture hall, which could host anything from small livestock sales to veterinary technology demonstrations, Travers and Jarvis said.
Also remaining from the initial proposals is a demonstration area/arena attached to the building.
Gone from the basic plans are a covered portico over the west-facing entrance to the front of the building, a second boiler, bleacher seating in the lecture hall and some stalls from the demonstration arena. Some of those items, including the bleachers and boiler, along with options for asphalt or concrete paving in the parking lot, were included in the bids as alternates, which the college could opt to add in to the project as construction advances, depending on how much money is available, Travers and Jarvis said.
“The main part really didn’t change much,” Wilkes said. “This was key to getting it back into budget. Functionally, it’s the same building.”
Once completed – EWC is aiming for the first classes in the fall semester of 2020 – the ATEC will house precision agriculture classes and more, freeing up space currently being shared in the Career and Technology Education Center, dedicated in August 2017. The college’s Veterinary Technology program will also utilize portions of ATEC, while maintaining some specialty labs and classroom space in its current building on the main campus.
