Hamilton moving forward with fire station plans

by Nathan Boddy

The City of Hamilton’s ‘Committee of the Whole’ had a very brief regular meeting on Tuesday, September 14th. Only three items were on the agenda for the meeting, which was officiated by Councilor Claire Kemp, while Council President Rod Pogachar was absent.

The central discussion of the evening was initiated by Fire Chief Brad Mohn, who asked that the Committee and Council make a decision regarding the new Fire Station. Chief Mohn informed the Committee that the deadline for submission of an application for a Montana Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) has been moved back to October 21st, giving the city time to determine which method it would like to utilize as it moves forward with design, planning and implementation the the construction project. Also present at the meeting was Senior Project Engineer, Erin Nostrant with Hulteng CCM, the firm selected by the City of Hamilton to serve as Owner’s Construction Representative to facilitate the process. Ms. Nostrant further explained the two choices before the Committee, giving a recommendation that the Council adopt a ‘General Contractor/ Construction Manager’ format for proceeding.

Nostrant explained the options as being the GCCM format, or a ‘lump sum,’ process. Both options are competitive in nature in that prospective builders will be required to submit their proposals for completion of the work. The difference in the two is that, the GCCM begins with selection of a General Contractor, who would then become a part of the team throughout the design and construction process. The General Contractor would still be chosen by a competitive selection, with subsequent sub-contractors being selected at a later date. The Lump Sum option, however, would require the complete design of the building by the architectural firm before the project is put out for bid by interested and qualified parties.  As explained by Nostrant, since the selection of a construction firm would not happen until the completion of design, potentially as late as next March, the subsequent bid for materials and sub-contractors could be likewise delayed.

“Usually, of a project of this size, around a four million dollar construction budget and brand new construction, we would often times just at putting the project out for bid,” said Nostrant. “But, there has been so much volatility in the construction materials market and the availability of certain components, whether it’s steel, or whether it’s mechanical equipment… all kinds of things that make it much more risky to not get that general contractor involved early in the process.”

Nostrant also mentioned that certain other benefits go along with using the GCCM route, such as issuing ‘early bid packs’ in order to begin securing materials that can take longer to assemble such as steel.  Her recommendation, as well as that of the other members on the development team, was that the city adopt the GCCM method.

Councilor Kemp asks if the GCCM model is more expensive than using the Lump Sum process, to which Nostrant replied that it “should not necessarily be more expensive.”  She then said that some costs and effort would need to be taken up front, but that it should make the entire procedure “less painful,” and hopefully more timely in the long run to have the General Contractor on board.

The Committee of the Whole voted to send the decision to the City Council along with its recommendation for approval of the GCCM process.