County Rejects Jail Bids, Will Re-Bid

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The Perry County Board followed the recommendation of John Parkinson of Image Architects to reject all bids received for the roof repairs at the Perry County Jail and re-bid the project.

The board acted at a special meeting on Oct. 22. The primary purpose of the meeting was to discuss the 2010 budget. A special meeting to continue discussion on the budget is set for Thursday, Oct. 29 at 2 p.m.

The new fiscal year begins Dec. 1, 2009. The budget will be placed on file at the Nov. 5 meeting.

At the last regular meeting, Parkinson said that the bids were higher than anticipated. Several factors contributed to the greater-than-anticipated cost. He said that he had hoped to re-use some light fixtures, but found that once the fixtures have been taken down, they cannot be re-used. The bidders also had some concerns about the time frame.

Parkinson recommended breaking the bid into three parts- electrical, mechanical and general- instead of taking single lump-sum bids.

He will create new bid packages at no cost to the County, per their contract.

He hopes to work with the bidders to identify areas of cost savings. Sheriff Keith Kellerman brought one cost-saving meaure to his attention already, Parkinson said. The County can use the landfill free of charge.

Parkinson said he hopes to have the new bids in by the end of November.