Commissioners Lock In Maximum Hard Costs For Jail
During a recent legislative session, the Allen County Board of Commissioners approved a Guaranteed Maximum Price Amendment for the Allen County Justice Center and Sheriff’s Office. The agreement between the county and their Construction Manager as Constructor (CmC), Weigand Construction, solidifies the hard construction cost number as $267,988,099 for the project. The number includes Bid Phases I-V and all accepted alternatives. Additionally, the contract stipulates that the substantial completion date for the new law enforcement campus is November 4, 2027.
Cody Michaud, Project Executive with Weigand on the jail project, shared that, “Through the leadership and guidance of the Allen County Commissioners, and also former Commissioner Nelson Peters, the efforts of the design team and Sheriff’s Office, the overall project [for hard costs] is about $15 million under than when we first started the [bidding] process. It is good to report that the overall combined project is close to $50M under initial estimates.”
He went on to say, “All of this is done without sacrificing officer or inmate safety while ensuring it meets the community needs now and well into the future.”
Commissioner Therese Brown shared, “Thank you so much for all the work that you all have put in over the course of the last two and a half years to get us to this point. We had a volatile [financial] environment to have to put a number out there that wasn’t necessarily palatable for any of us.” She stressed that this is not necessarily a fun subject but, “this is a function of county government; we must take care of our guests – our inmates – and our employees. Their life safety is paramount to us as the Board of Commissioners.”
Commissioner Rich Beck echoed her statement saying, “We never really made a statement about what the amount would be exactly because we didn’t know. There were a lot of numbers out there being tossed around. Your team’s efforts to get us where we need to be is just fantastic.”
Commissioner Ron Turpin expressed, “Cody thank you for bringing me up to speed on this.” He asked additional questions about the difference between the hard costs and soft costs and noted that the jail will include five pods versus the original plans that depicted four. “So, we’re getting more for the money than what we originally thought we might,” Turpin stated.
Hard construction costs comprise the bulk of overall project expenses and cover things like contractor labor, concrete, steel, masonry products, mechanical and electrical equipment, roofing, interior and exterior finishes, site work, utility connections, driveways, parking lots, and landscaping. The Guaranteed Maximum Price Amendment locks in the cost of those items for the duration of the project; and, unless the Board of Commissioners approves a change to the project, it reflects the maximum construction cost that Allen County can expect to pay.
To keep the community up to date on the progress of the Allen County Justice Center, Weigand Construction installed two cameras that provide site footage, with a third one going in this next month. Weigand will produce compiled timelapse videos that they will submit to the Commissioners periodically as well as a monthly video of drone flights. The link to the timelapse video footage will be shared with the public via Media Alerts, on their website, as well as posted on all county social media channels, which includes Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and X.
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