Jail committee to review ROMs
Meeting today at 4 p.m.
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HOUGHTON - The Houghton County Jail Committee is conducting a meeting/ work session today at 4 p.m. in the Conference Room, on the 5th floor of the Houghton County Courthouse. The meeting was initially scheduled for July 20, but was postponed.
There are several goals for the meeting. The first is to review the ROMs (rough order of magnitude) submitted by participants of the July 15th Industry Day. The committee members will then discuss the ROMs with the goal of drafting a recommendation for millage language, along with recommendation of a cost number to attach to a November 3 millage proposal, said committee co-chair Faith Morrison. The recommendations will then be considered by the Houghton County Board of Commissioners at its special meeting scheduled for 1 p.m. Aug. 5 in the Board of Commissioners Hall, on the 5th floor of the courthouse to discuss the jail committee's recommendations.
The main topic of discussion at the Industry Day meeting was design-build versus design-bid-build.
Several contractors were present and spoke at the event, saying that design-build is a bit more expensive than the traditional design-bid-build, said Faith Morrison, jail committee co-chair.
Morrison said several participants suggested the County hire an architecture firm, through an open bid process, and have them design the facility. The County could then hire a construction management firm, again through an open bid process, to manage the project in coordination with the architecture firm as inevitable changes came to light.
"The committee received this advice and found it persuasive," Morrison said.
At the same time, the committee has also been exploring a Construction Management (C-M) delivery model to trim costs for a jail facility. As Morrison described it, the County Board would hire an architect and a construction manager, then work as a team to establish a budget, then flesh out the construction.
During the Industry Day meeting, Co-Chair Faith Morrison said Moyle Construction had suggested that a design-build (D-B) proposal, or a public-private partnership, might be a way for the county to save money. The partnership would include a lease-back arrangement, meaning the county would lease the jail back from Moyle over time, creating a lease-to-own model, shifting the initial financial burden from the county.
“It was suggested that the contracting firm, with their preferred sub-contractors could save a lot of re-bidding as cost-generating and the cascading parts of the project,” Morrison said.
Todd Butler, project director with Granger Construction cautioned the committee that a D-B delivery model, as opposed to the C-M may not be the best option for this project. C-M is a collaborative approach between the owner, architect and construction manager working towards an aggressive set dollar amount, he said, which leaves more room to make adjustments as the design and construction progresses than a D-B delivery model.
Butler added: D-B fees are usually in the 5-10% range while C-M fees are typically in the 2-4% range to add further context on the cost differences.
"All in all, the cost of the work, plus a fee associated with D-B approach is going to be a little bit more expensive for the county," Butler said.
The county has been exploring a new jail for over a decade. Since the current facility was built in 1963, new and increasing regulations mandated by the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) have now placed the county at a real risk of state or intervention or federal closure. The jail now continuously fails to meet current regulations, which also leaves the county vulnerable to lawsuits by inmates, which has happened frequently.
The MDOC inspects and oversees county jails, and state law legally mandates that counties maintain “suitable and sufficient” facilities at their own expense.