Hospital trustees accepted bids for earth and structural work at their meeting Tuesday night for the new Allen County Hospital. Bids for rebar, steel and concrete and erection, digging, grading and drilling services totaled about $1.7 million.
Trustees debated the pros and cons of asphalt and concrete and settled with concrete for the new hospital’s parking lots, driveways, sidewalks and curbs.
Sheldon Streeter, project manager with Murray Construction, which will oversee the construction of the hospital, recommended concrete, saying its lifespan is typically 20-25 years compared to 10-15 years with asphalt.
The bid for concrete by Burlington Construction, $306,170, also came in lower than Se-Kan Asphalt of Gas, at $318,427, for paving purposes.
David Wright, architect with Health Facilities Group, also favored concrete, saying it is “a much more durable product and in this case, less up front — which is fairly rare.”
The continued high price of oil keeps asphalt in the higher ranges.
Burlington Construction also won out over Hofer & Hofer of Humboldt for its $181,994 bid for concrete work on the site. Hofer & Hofer’s bid was $231,523.
Other firms awarded bids included Noble Construction, La Cygne, for earthwork; Coleman Materials, Wichita, for rebar material; Unique Metal Fab, Pittsburg, for steel materials; and Great Plains Drilling, Kansas City, Mo., for pier drilling. Still to be determined are bids for steel erection. Griffith Steel, Maize, and Mid-Land Erector, of Joplin, Mo., have the two lowest bids.
Utility easements still have yet to be finalized with two properties to the south of the hospital, though no significant hurdles are expected, said Alan Weber, county counselor, who advises hospital trustees.
One surprise is the discovery of a sewer terminus directly underneath the concrete driveway of Fountain Villa, a long-term care facility.
“It’s well within their property,” said Harry Lee, instead of being near the property’s right of way. “We’ll have to invade their property quite a bit,” to hook up the new sewer line to the existing line.
Tom Miller, trustee, said in conversations with Bob Macha, the other property owner, Macha wondered why 25 feet was needed for the easement. The distance is needed to accommodate sewer, gas and water utility lines, Wright said.
Larry Peterson, chief financial officer of the hospital, said he and staff are reviewing five vendors for electronic medical records. He estimates the system will cost $3 million “spread out over five years.”
FOR MUCH of the meeting trustees viewed a presentation by Wright and Laura Mattson, senior interior designer of HFG, of 3-D drawings and samples of exterior and interior materials.
The exterior will be a combination of brick and stone in earth tones.
