Jan. 12—GREENSBURG — The HVAC system at the Greensburg Police Department is being replaced.
The Daily News reported in July 2022 that the current HVAC system at the GPD building, installed in 2002, was failing. The age and disrepair of the system has resulted in uneven temperatures throughout the building and increasing mold and mildew issues.
To further examine the issue and provide a plan and decisions based on their findings, the city hired DLZ Architecture, Engineering and Planning at a cost of $57,500.
DLZ finished their report and the cost and nature of the recommended repairs were discussed at the Greensburg Board of Works meeting Tuesday night.
“Today, the bids were brought in to the clerk’s office, and only one bid had been received,” GPD Chief Mike McNealey said.
After reviewing the bid, DLZ Engineer’s Josh Apling said that the bid was all inclusive, noting there were no apparent omissions or mistakes, but he was not pleased with the bid cost.
“The price was a fair amount higher than we initially estimated, the top end being $520,000. So coming in at $700,000 appears high,” he said.
The price of the bid was actually $800,000 with the option of removing GPD staff to another location during the installation process (City Hall). If that was decided prudent for ease and speed, the bid would be only $700,000 — a $100,000 savings.
Apling offered to reach out to the originators of the bid (Cook Engineering) and “get a feel” for an explanation regarding why the bid was so high.
Apling said the number of projects currently in process made it a challenging bid climate. He said he also wanted to question other contractors as to why they had not submitted a bid.
Mayor Marsh asked if there was value in rebidding the project and Apling said, “In my experience, that’s a pretty dangerous game because I’ve rarely seen other rebids come in at lower prices.”
Councilman Jamie Cain asked if perhaps the bid should be rejected to provide another opportunity for other contractors to submit a bid.
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“From a procedural standpoint, is that the right thing to do?” he asked.
City attorney Chris Stephens said he needed to review the statute, adding that if the council was not interested in accepting the bid they should reject it, have conversations with other contracts, and then rebid the work.
Much discussion arose between Mayor Marsh, Stephens and councilmen Cain, Tebbe and Dr. King regarding the legalities of accepting or rejecting the bid, tabling the bid for a month and having conversations with other contractors, the effects of inflation on the bid, and other factors.
The final decision was to table the bid until the next meeting and then make a decision to move forward with the bid after further examination of the amount of the bid and factors affecting it.
Contact Bill Rethlake at 812-651-0876 or email bill.rethlake@greensburgdailynews.com
