County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox, who also serves as executive director for the Lake County Redevelopment Agency, took to the board a request to waive the normal bidding process to replace half of the building's roof.
The other half had been replaced in recent years by Castlepoint Ministries, which sold the property to the redevelopment agency last month for $1.35 million, as Lake County News has reported.
“We'd like to get those repairs done prior to the rains beginning,” Cox said, noting the rainy season is forecast to begin early this year.
Cox said the county also has a strong interest in making the eight-decade-old building's renovation as much of an economic engine for the area as possible.
He said staff was recommending utilizing an informal bidding process to complete the work in a timely manner.
Every county roofing contractor was contacted by telephone to invite bids, he said.
Two contractors showed up to a prebid site review. Bids were due at 9 a.m. Tuesday, at the same time the board meeting started.
Cox reported that the county received only one bid – a surprise since he had expected both contractors to submit bids – and it was from Lucerne Roofing.
He said county staff was very confident in Lucerne Roofing's abilities. However, the bid came in at $263,000, higher than the anticipated $225,000 based on a building evaluation conducted last year.
Cox said the county could conduct a formal bidding process, which would bring in out-of-county contractors and take more time.
“We're pushing it at this rate even going through the informal process” if the county wanted to see the roof completed before the rains arrived, Cox said.
Cox noted that Redevelopment Deputy Director Eric Seely was meeting with Konocti Conservation Camp representatives at the building at that time to talk about site work, which was why he was absent from the meeting.
Board Chair Anthony Farrington asked if they could negotiate the bid price.
Cox said that there may be ways to reduce costs. A major issue in the bid cost was the need to use a lot of scaffolding, which will have to be rented from an out-of-county firm. If the work were stalled by weather, he said it would create a risk for the company.
Deputy Administrative Officer Jeff Rein told the board he wasn't confident much about the amount could be changed.
Although Cox said, “It's a little bit higher than we originally thought it would be,” he said he thinks they can make it up elsewhere, and the county has enough funding to pay for it.
While the county could go outside for another roofing contractor, he said the last big roofing project they did – which took place last year – went to an out-of-county contractor, and the county is now in litigation over the work. They wouldn't had had such problems with Lucerne Roofing, Cox said.
In addition, Rein told the board, “We've put a rather unusual provision in this contract.”
That provision requires the contractor to guarantee their work – not the materials – for five years, staff said.
Rein said there would be no guarantee that an out-of-county contractor would still be in business for five years, while Lucerne Roofing has been in business for decades and has a stellar reputation.
Supervisor Jim Comstock said he wasn't at all interested in inviting bids from outside firms. “We want this to be done local,” he said, suggesting the county seek a reduction in scaffolding costs.
Cox told the board during the discussion that one of the differences in the projected cost and the actual bid arose from the need to pay prevailing wage for a government job.
Supervisor Denise Rushing suggested that the county could offer to share the risk on the scaffolding rental, but said she didn't want to remove all the risk, which might also reduce the contractor's incentive to move quickly. Cox said it was a good point.
Supervisor Jeff Smith wanted to make sure the materials were top quality so that a reroof wouldn't be needed any time soon. “To have to do this again in 20 years is nuts,” he said, suggesting at least a 35-year shingle.
Cox said that the roofing materials used on the updated half of the roof was really good quality.
At County Counsel Anita Grant's suggestion, Rushing moved to modify the resolution so that it said the job amount would not exceed the $263,000 bid before offering it. The resolution was approved 5-0.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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