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Firm hired to repair health building

October 20, 2010|By Fred Petke

The Clark County Board of Health voted to hire a Madison County construction firm to rebuild the back of the health department building.

In a special meeting Tuesday night, the board voted unanimously to hire L.W. Coffey Construction for the project after it submitted the low bid of $172,900. Director Scott Lockard said the project, which includes replacing the back wall to the building, had been estimated at $200,000.

The next lowest bid was from Moore and Gabbard at $201,675. The remaining three bids were all more than $235,000.

The board’s approval was contingent upon checking the company’s references, Lockard said. If the two low bids can’t be accepted, the board would have to meet again because the other bids were so far above the estimates, he said.

The project will correct an issue from the 31-year-old building settling, which caused the back wall to begin pulling away from the rest of the building. Lockard said the problem is not enough to have the building condemned, but needs to be fixed immediately.

“It is structurally unsound,” he said. “It’s moved about four inches out.”

Once the contract is signed, Lockard said work should begin within 30 days. The project itself should take another 90 to 120 days to complete, he said.

It still remains to be seen whether the project to build a new parking lot will be able to begin as planned before the building project. The new front parking lot would give clients places to park while the rear one is filled with construction equipment.

Lockard said the project has stalled in the city planning and zoning committee, which has requested documents from the contractor, Baldwin Engineering. It may still be approved later this month, but could be pushed into November. If that happens, the asphalt plants will have closed for the year and “it will be next year before we get a parking lot,” he said.

Lockard said patients could park on the street during construction if needed. Otherwise, construction on both projects would have to wait until the spring, he said.

Along with repairing the back wall, the project will also include new doors, windows and renovate the two downstairs bathrooms to make them compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, he said.

It will also make the downstairs meeting room an alternate emergency operations center for the county, should the main one at the Winchester Police Department become unusable. Lockard said Clark County Emergency Management Director Gary Epperson has obtained some grants to pay for some communication equipment, and has been installing monitors in the room, he said.

Contact Fred Petke at fpetke@winchestersun.com.

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