Wildwood commissioners Monday night decided to appoint a new selection committee and solicit proposals for a Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) to supervise construction of the city’s new police station at U.S. 301 and County Road 462 West.
They also voted to issue $7 million in capital improvement revenue bonds through Citizen’s First Bank to finance the project. Some of the money may be used for city hall roof repairs.
The decision to hire a Construction Manager at Risk came after an unsuccessful effort by Mayor Ed Wolf to persuade commissioners to solicit contractor bids directly instead. A Construction Manager at Risk supervises all phases of construction and is supposed to help prevent costly change orders. The architectural phase of the project is substantially complete.
Commissioners weren’t satisfied with the results of a previous selection committee and decided at a special meeting last week to restart the process. A local contractor was excluded from the previous process due to a technicality. At that meeting, Public Works Director Jeremy Hockenbury explained the benefits of the CMAR process.
The new station, expected to cost $6.9 million, will be located on a seven-acre site bought more than two years ago for $625,000. The purchase price later was reduced after sinkholes were found on the property.
In May, commissioners were told by a company hired to manage the bid process that it could be difficult to attract bids because area construction companies are busy. But the project attracted seven bidders and Wolf said the city should consider working directly with a contractor instead. The mayor said he feared that local construction firms could be bypassed using the CMAR process.
“I just think it’s good business for us to do everything we can with local people,” he said.
Wolf also questioned the estimated price tag of about $500 per square feet for the 13,000-square-foot building, as well as the estimated $300,000 commission earned by the CMAR firm.
“I think we could get the same thing without the $300,000,” he said.
Commissioner Joe Elliott said local firms could be part of the CMAR process as subcontractors. Commissioner Don Clark said he also wanted to make sure local firms are considered.
Elliott made a motion that City Manager Jason McHugh appoint a new selection committee to hire a CMAR company. The motion was approved 4-1, with Wolf voting against it.
