Hall Co. Commission approves construction bids at emergency meeting

GAINESVILLE - At an emergency called meeting Friday morning, the Hall County Commission officially approved bids for construction of the new correctional facility.<br /> <br /> The vote included a rescinding of a July 24 vote that gave tentative approval to Quality Concrete Block for the facility's concrete blocks, despite the company bidding slightly over the $69,000 budget.<br /> <br /> Quality Concrete Block was the only company that gave an "official" bid through the regular channels, but several companies gave outside "unofficial" bids at a lower cost.<br /> <br /> Quality Concrete Block was given 24 hours to match the lowest outside bid at $61,000, but they were never even contacted, according to Tim Sims, Purchasing Manager for Hall County.<br /> <br /> "During the week after [the commission] approved the bid, we found out about the Home Depot pricing," said Sims.<br /> <br /> He added that they had not awarded the bid to Quality Concrete Block, and therefore asked the commission to rescind the vote and go with the lower pricing.<br /> <br /> The County solicited bids from a number of other companies, and ultimately approved the concrete blocks contract for Home Depot for $56,523, nearly $13,000 lower than the original bid.<br /> <br /> "Normally it's not a problem to do bids like this, but with the economy picking up, companies have a little more workload than normal," said Sims, who said those companies aren't hiring enough staff to accommodate those workloads.<br /> <br /> Correctional Institute Warden Walt Davis said the delay in bids did not delay construction on the facility, which began Monday.<br /> <br /> "We are very appreciative to the commission for having this emergency meeting and moving the project forward for us," said Davis.<br /> <br /> The correctional facility should be ready this time next year, according to Davis.<br /> <br /> Here are the specific bids that were approved at the meeting:<br /> <br /> CONCRETE BLOCKS - Home Depot - $56,523<br /> <br /> CONCRETE DELIVERY - Candler Concrete - $73,200<br /> <br /> REBAR AND REINFORCING STEEL - Home Depot - $15,000<br /> <br /> DETENTION EQUIPMENT CONTRACTOR - C.A. Owens & Associates - $255,000<br /> <br /> ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS CONTRACTOR - Southwestern Communications - $219,256<br /> <br /> ELECTRICAL RACEWAY AND CONDUIT - City Plumbing & Electric - $24,597.43