Preliminary construction expected to be complete in April

HUSTONVILLE — Preliminary construction of the new fire and emergency services (EMS) building on the west side of Lincoln County is projected to be complete some time in April.

Mayor Marc Spivey heard an update from the project manager and architect during a meeting was held Feb. 22 at Hustonville City Hall.

Brandon Henson, project manager for Riddell Construction, began by discussing work that had been done over the previous 30 days.

“We’ve completed the electrical rough-in. We are formed up in the front for concrete sidewalks and entry-way. We have installed a lot of insulation,” he said. “We’ve tightened up some wall-framing, some metal stud wall-framing that needed some adjustments. We placed a little metal on the front.”

Henson said overhead doors were also installed.

“In the next 30 days…we want to complete our insulation, start a dry wall and install the aluminum frame entrance, pour that concrete out front and go ahead and get our plumbing tidied up there,” Henson said. “We’ll separate, I’m thinking a grinder pump…that’s going to go in. Hopefully (we’ll) start to get things locked down here.”

Josh Shuster, of the architectural and engineering firm Brandstetter Carroll, said the projected “substantial completion” date for their portion of the building construction is April 1.

“(That’s)Pending weather days for January and February, as of right now,” he said.

Shuster said as of Feb. 22, there were 14 weather days.

“If everything looks fine, that would push it to April 15 right now, depending on what happens in March,” he said.

While Henson said he would like the work to be done before April 15, by contract, the group has until then to finish, Shuster said.

“Then we would do a punch-list and then he (Henson) will have 30 days for final completion, as of right now,” he added.

To date, three change orders have been approved, Shuster said.

There was one pending change order related to the concrete pad outside of the overhead doors, Shuster said.

“From the original bid, they were shortened down to just basically a little protection pad at the overhead doors, a 12-inch pad that matched the slab inside,” he said. “Instead of doing those, (we’re) deleting those and issuing credit back to be used for something else in the job because we do have a protection angle on the threshold of those doors that protects that corner too.”

The credit is for $3,600, he said.

A final set of drawings will be given to the city when their portion of the construction is completed, he added.

As far as issues they’ve encountered throughout the construction, Shuster said some “bad insulation” was replaced.

“We’ve had some concerns early on about some sagging and some damp stockpiles of the bad insulation before it got put up in the walls,” he said. “He’s addressed those, he’s been running a dehumidifier and getting (it) hung out. He’s still got another layer to get in there, but they’ve done a lot better job now getting it back on track to where it needs to be.”

The mayor said he knows all parties would like to get the construction wrapped up but weather does play a significant part.

Spivey asked Henson to clarify what work is included in the “electrical rough-in.” Since the conception of the new building a few years ago, plans for the actual building have changed a bit over time and has included some reduction in the amount of work to be done using grant-related funds.

Some additional work on the building will be needed, once the preliminary construction is completed. The city will have to cover the cost, but will not be required to pay federal wages.

“Basically, we just set all the boxes and got all the conduit and wiring in that we need in so we can go ahead and start with our drywall, paint, start to tidy up,” Henson said.

Shuster said the electricity in the bay areas will be fully-functional, but the office will be roughed-in and ready for the next group to take over and complete. He said one sink and one toilet will be installed, to get the building functioning, but the city will have to finish out the rest.

A shower will not be completed, but it will be roughed-in and ready for an insert.

The office space also will not have heating or air-conditioning.

“That was part of what the previous administration thought you had a local contractor that could do some of that work cheap. After that, our rough-in stuff was completed. As of right now you have unit heaters in the bays to keep that (climate-controlled), but as far as the office space right now, no, it will not be,” Shuster said.

Spivey asked how much completing the heating and air would cost.

“I can get you a rough estimate,” Shuster said.

Some additional dry wall, shower installation, and interior finishes including metal studs, molding and paint will have to be completed once Riddell Construction has finished their portion of the project. The floors will remain in concrete form and Hustonville is expected to provide the rock that will surround the building.

According to Mark Givens, with the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development, there was approximately $19,000 left in the project’s contingency fund, with possibly a little more by the end. Shuster said some leftover funds could be used to complete a few parts of the interior work that will be needed.

“We can try to use some of that to build more walls and finish more dry wall,” he said. “We could try to have him price finishing the vestibule framing, put the fire offices in, and maybe even frame the other bathroom and the dividing wall, just complete your framing in general and maybe hang whatever drywall…”

Spivey said once Riddell Construction has finished it’s part and the city obtains a Certificate of Occupancy, remaining work will no longer require the city to pay the federal wage rates.

SO YOU KNOW
The next fire and EMS update meeting is scheduled for March 22 at 2 p.m. at City Hall in Hustonville.