By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
This time when shovels sink into the site of the new Wood County Senior Center, they won’t be ceremonial. Construction of the new facility is expected to begin in March.
After a five-month delay to repeat the construction bidding process, the results will be much the same. Mosser Construction was again awarded the bid, and the building is to be finished by the end of January 2021 – one month later than originally planned. The price tag grew a bit – not to exceed $7,899,000 – but now also includes a kitchen.
The bid accepted by the Wood County Committee on Aging Board was not the lowest of the three bids received. But it was the “best value,” according to Jim Stainbrook, project liaison on the building project.
The other two bids, from Rudolph Libbe and Spieker Construction, will be released once the contract is signed with Mosser, Stainbrook said.
Last week, the contractors were interviewed for the job, then ranked on a scoring system. Cost was just one of the considerations.
Ground was officially broken for the new senior center last September. But the Wood County Committee on Aging board had to go back to the drawing board in October after questions were raised about the construction bidding process.
WCCOA Executive Director Denise Niese said she remains confident that the new senior center, at 140 S. Grove St., can be ready to open early in 2021.
Though the project has lost time, the delay was over the winter when little work could have been done, she said.
“We’re not that far behind,” Niese said.
The board and Niese agreed it was more important that the bidding process not be tainted by any questions about legalities. The initial bid awarding process did not follow all the components of the public bidding process, then board president Ben Batey explained.
After the groundbreaking in September, another contractor not awarded the job raised concerns that its bid was lower than the Mosser bid.
Batey said because the WCCOA is not a public entity that the public bidding process had not been followed exactly. But since the project was awarded $1.6 million in capital funding from the state, and is associated with Bowling Green State University, it was later realized that it fell in a “gray area” and should be rebid.
So the board voted in October to reject the bids already submitted and reissue its invitation for bids on the project in order to be fair to all bidders and be compliant with Ohio law.
The board is committed to a quality project that will serve seniors for decades to come, Niese said.
The existing senior center, located at 305 N. Main St., is in a building constructed in 1914 as a post office. The new building will be more than twice the size of the current senior center, with more space for programs, an adult day care area, and 82 parking spaces.
The new 35,000-square-foot senior center will be located at the site of the former school administration building between South Grove and Buttonwood streets, south of West Wooster Street.
A $1.2 million capital campaign is underway to raise the rest of the money needed. So far, more than $700,000 has been raised, Stainbrook said.
“We have more fundraising to do,” he said.
