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Highlands Today

Competition High To Build Sheriff's Building

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By JIM KONKOLY

Highlands Today

Published: August 1, 2008

SEBRING - A record number of companies is competing for the contract to build the new Highlands County Sheriff's Office building.
County Administrator Michael Wright said the increased competition could lead to a great price for taxpayers on the new law enforcement facility, which now carries an estimated price tag of about $11.2 million.

Twenty-one general contractor firms filed by Thursday's 2 p.m. deadline to qualify to compete for the job. Within 10 days, the county's purchasing department will announce which firms are qualified to bid on this project.

Due in large part to the faltering economy, county projects have been drawing many more bidders over the past 18 months than several years earlier when the local and state economies were booming, said Jed Secory.

Secory, director of the county purchasing department, said the greater competition should lead to a lower price on the new sheriff's building.

"That's what we're hoping for, the best possible price for taxpayers," Secory said. More competition generally leads to better prices, in both the public and private sectors, he said.

If all the 21 general contracting firms qualify to bid for the law enforcement building, the county would have triple the number of bidders than it did for the county's last major construction project, the 2003 addition to the Highlands County Courthouse.

Seven general contracting firms qualified to bid for that project, compared to the 21 firms.

"That project," Secory said, referring to the courthouse addition, "was about the same size, as far as cost, as the new law enforcement building."

The new law enforcement building for the sheriff's office will be a two-story, concrete structure of about 50,000 square feet. The new facility will be built on South George Boulevard, near the county's fuel site and adjacent to the county's Emergency Operations Center.

Firms have to qualify to bid on large construction projects so that the county knows if they are capable to do the work, Secory said.

"This is a two-step process," he added. "We are qualifying vendors first, and then whoever is qualified will be allowed to bid on the actual construction."

Groundbreaking for the building is scheduled for January 2009.

Over the last 18 months, competition has been increasing for all contracts which the county awards through competitive bidding.

The qualified general contractors will start submitting bids on the sheriff's building in mid to late September.

The general contractor getting the contract is expected to be named in late October.

Jim Konkoly can be reached at 863-386-5855 or by e-mail at jkonkoly@highlandstoday.com

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