Council votes to salvage fire station
Posted on Wednesday, September 10, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/bcdr/News/65562/
ROGERS — Only part of Rogers Fire Station No. 5 will be torn down to repair mold and rust issues caused by a leaky roof. The City Council voted Tuesday on a plan that would keep the station’s bay mostly intact while addressing the water damage by demolishing and rebuilding the facility on both sides of the bay.
The plan, presented by architect and Planning Commissioner Don Spann during a Committee of the Whole meeting at 6 p. m. Tuesday, also calls for angling the roof, raising the floor of the bay 4 inches, and leveling the exit driveway to better accommodate the department’s larger vehicles and drain water away from the Highway Department’s adjacent property.
Spann offered two options on that plan, and the council chose the more extensive one, which included the work for the north driveway. The project, according to Spann’s estimates, would cost $ 1. 06 million without the driveway work and $ 1. 19 million with that option included.
The council rejected an option that would have replaced the entire building at a cost of about $ 1. 88 million. Mayor Steve Womack first objected to the complete demolition because the drainage issues could be fixed for less money by the first option.
“ Option 2 is a non-swimmer, ” Womack said. “ I could not in good faith argue to spend upward of $ 2 million to address this problem. ”
Councilman Buddy Wright, who had previously said he would like to replace the entire building, said the cost led him to change his mind, saying “ $ 2 million — I think we can save it. ”
Councilmen quickly offered a unanimous recommendation to approve “ Option 1 A, ” the plan to replace the damaged parts of the building while salvaging the bay and addressing the drainage issues.
The larger discussion was over the method of contracting a builder for the project. Spann presented two options: sending the project out for bids or declaring a state of emergency and negotiating with a single contractor.
“ There’s a significant difference between negotiating a contract with a builder or bidding, ” Spann said. “(If there is a bid ), that’s going to be a four- to six-month time period before we can go to work on this building. If we do the project the second way, we can do the (entire ) project in eight or nine months versus (more than a year ) doing it the longhand way. ”
Spann also said the bidding process would limit the council’s abilities in selecting the contractor.
“ I hate to see that because it puts us at the mercy of the low bidder, and we’re looking at the product of the low bidder (in the current problems ), ” Spann said.
The fire station was designed by Haynes and Associates of Rogers and built by Oakridge Builders of Tulsa.
Spann cautioned that certain conditions have to be met to forgo the bidding process.
“ We have some legal issues there, and we have to be careful of how we do it, ” Spann said.
“ I think we can declare a state of emergency, ” Womack said. “ I think that’s enough to justify us getting started on this right away. ”
Deputy City Attorney Jim Clark confirmed Womack’s assessment, saying the state of the building does constitute an emergency and will allow the city to negotiate with a single builder for the project.
Spann asked for the help of one of the council’s committees to plan the process of selecting a builder for the project. He said he could present recommendations on the process at the Sept. 23 council meeting.
During Tuesday’s council meeting that followed the Committee of the Whole meeting, aldermen awarded Spann a contract for his architectural services on the fire station worth a maximum of $ 103, 700. Spann estimated his services would likely cost $ 96, 700, based on the construction estimates.
The council also approved the following:
• A request from ANH Montessori School for sewer service at 2730 Woods Lane outside the city limits;
• A resolution authorizing a contract with Crafton, Tull Sparks and Associates to design a portion of the trail system from the north side of New Hope Road to the west side of Horsebarn Road; and
• A resolution accepting a right-of-way donation from North Allis, LLC.