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Seeking information

Jail Committee holds Industry Day

FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP - The Houghton County Jail Committee's open meeting Industry Day, at the Franklin Township Hall Wednesday, generated information for the committee to consider in its search for ROMs (Rough Order of Magnitude) cost estimates for building a new jail.

The Houghton County Board of Commissioners, through the Jail Committee, is seeking ROM estimates from construction experts for a new, safer, and more effective jail and sheriff's office to be built on the County’s Sharon Avenue property.

The ROM estimates, which are due by July 29, will influence a potential millage proposal for a facility designed to accommodate approximately 60-70 beds at a more reasonable price than the previous $32 million estimate previously presented to the board.

During the 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.

Morrison said the board and the proposal raised several questions and concerns, including issues of transparency, legal procedures and competitive fairness. Because the Jail Committee has not expertise on that topic, she said the Industry Day would provide an opportunity for discussion on the topic.

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.

Questions arose challenging whether a millage proposal based on an ROM cost estimate would present high risks. D-B versus C-M were also discussed.

Todd Butler, senior project manager with Granger Construction, cautioned that a C-M delivery model, as opposed to the D-B may not be an option the county should be considering. C-M is a collaborative approach between the owner, architect and construction manager, working towards a target budge, he said.

"Not that design-build is a bad delivery model," Butler said, "but I would caution the county that because the complexities and specific systems that go into a jail are systems that most design firms are not going to encounter on a daily basis."

For example, he said, mechanical design influences the budget, as does plumbing design and the electrical design.

"At the end of the day, the cost of the jail, your opportunities for cost reductions have a bandwidth, that you can stay within before you start compromising quality" said Butler. "Then, you start considering where the opportunities to are to affect the cost within that budget. After that you only have square footage."

Butler also addressed construction manager fees, which he said, would apply to the cost of the work.

"Typically, at least when we do a design-build job, I think their fees are a little bit more on design-build, because there's a little bit more risk in a design-build delivery than in a construction management approach."

From a construction management delivery model, said Butler, construction manager fees usually account for 9-12% of the total cost. Of that 9-12%, three percent is typically general conditions: Temporary toilets, temporary fencing, job trailer rentals, for example.

"So, that three percent is going to be prioritized towards local contractors," he said, adding that more than 90% of the construction cost will be going to be local trade contractors who are tax-paying citizens of Houghton County."

Butler said the C-M method also allows for the utilization of Design- Assist, "where you can employ qualifications-based selection process for some of the key subcontractors, and then it almost works similar to a design-build approach from there, where you establish target value buckets for each of the various building systems."

Butler concluded, saying that all in all, the cost of the work, plus a fee with associated with C-M approach is going to be a little bit more expensive for the county.