City Commissioners unanimously approved a $179,967 design contract for Civic Center improvements.

Commissioners approved the professional services agreement with Cushing Terrell for design services during their Dec. 6 meeting.

Staff has been working with the company to review current conditions and future needs for the heating/cooling systems and electrical equipment in the Civic Center.

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Staff recommended approval of the design contract so construction can begin in the spring or summer.

Commissioners identified the HVAC/boiler/transformer upgrade project in the Civic Center as a Tier 1 project for the city’s allocation of American Rescue Plan Act, or federal COVID relief funds, in April.

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“Because of the way these systems are integrated with one another Cushing has recommended combining the designs under one project, thus named the Civic Center systems improvement design project. Cushing has suggested moving forward with the HVAC portion of the project first to enable ordering of the long lead equipment,” according to city staff.

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The design will include the necessary architectural, mechanical and electrical construction documents to enable bidding by a qualified contractor, according to staff.

“Due to their familiarity with the Civic Center building and infrastructure, they are well suited to provide an integrated design for the overall project,” according to city staff.

During their Dec. 20 meeting, commissioners will consider several other contracts related to Civic Center improvements.

One of those is a change order for the human resources office remodel.

During the final stages of design and early in construction, Cushing Terrell identified potential cost and time saving measures to incorporate updates to the HVAC system in the prosecutor’s office during the HR remodel. The change shifts scope from the upcoming Civic Center HVAC system project to the HR remodel. Both projects are ARPA funded.

Commissioners identified the HR remodel project as a Tier 1 ARPA project in April and awarded the construction contract to Wadsworth Builders Company in July for $626,500.

Commissioners approved the first change order for the project in November.

This change order encompasses the HVAC units needed for the roof; revised ductwork, VRV units, and lighting in the prosecutor’s office; and additional soffit work in the east and west stairwells on the first floor.

“Doing this work now saves us money in design costs, contractor mobilization, and potential equipment costs due to inflation. This will also mitigate some of the disruption of daily activities around the Civic Center as we will not be mobilizing a contractor twice, and are well primed to complete the work in a more expeditious manner because all the equipment and personnel will already be onsite. This work does have the potential to be affected if changes to the prosecutor’s office are necessitated by the upcoming court remodel project,” according to the staff report.

This change order also accounts for some conditions identified during the course of construction, as well as some updates to enhance the overall design.

Once demolition was completed and interior walls were opened up, the contractor identified plumbing and flooring issues that need to be addressed/fixed; as well as electrical chases that need to be removed or reused, according to the staff report. The contractor and city staff also identified door and window changes that are recommended to match the existing doorways and remove unnecessary hardware, which results in some small credits, according to staff.

Lighting changes are also recommended in the planned vault office, as there is space in the floor joists to use recessed LED panels rather than surface mount, to give more head room in that office, due to the already low ceiling.

“While this change order is substantial, it encompasses a considerable change in scope, designed to capitalize on work that is already underway and save time, money, and disruption in daily activities,” according to staff.

This change will increase Wadsworth’s contract from $649,932.55 to $814,530.08, and is being funded with ARPA funds.

“This will decrease the overall ARPA allocations for other projects going forward. This should represent considerable savings from the Civic Center HVAC project, barring inflation effects on materials and lead times,” according to staff.

The bulk of this change order is for HVAC work in the prosecutor’s office, for $133,803.13.

The work to address conditions found during construction and electrical installation costs for IT support are about $15,639.58. Design optimization is about $15,264.73.

Staff is also considering a contract for IT infrastructure installation costs at this point in the HR remodel project.

IT installation costs were not included in Wadsworth’s contract, as the IT department utilizes certain equipment and contractors to complete IT infrastructure installations within the Civic Center, and integrate the new installations into the existing IT system, in order to ensure continuity in the overall system, according to staff.

Wadsworth has completed the necessary demolition and framing for the new office layout to enable the IT infrastructure to be completed at this time.

After reviewing the current configuration of the cabling and the needs for additional lines, IT staff and Central Technologies determined the best option is to install a new network switch with fiber connections. This solution will optimize the current data feeds and provide room for future capacity, according to staff.

The contract with Central Technologies for $15,795 will include the necessary cabling, wall mount rack and complete the installation of those items.

The contract with High Point Networks for $6,011.48 will provide a new network switch and accompanying equipment for installation and integration by Central Technologies.