A requested 23-day extension to the Starkville Police Department renovation contract for contractors to install information technology (IT) cabling and furniture will push the project’s date of substantial completion to June 12, but Mayor Parker Wiseman says the proposed change order will not significantly delay the project.
City officials previously forecasted a late May completion date for the $4.48 million project and planned to open the facility in June after spending a short amount of time furnishing the building, Wiseman said. If the project’s fifth change order is approved Tuesday, work will continue as the building is outfitted with furnishings, he said.
“The contractor has been very accommodating with us. Our hope is that the building will be ready for occupation at about the same time it would have been otherwise,” Wiseman said. “This will keep us on track for a June opening.”
Last year, aldermen authorized up to $5.4 million in combined bonds to pay for the $4.48 million project and its fixtures, furnishings, fees for attorneys and bond writers, and a $230,000 reimbursement to the city’s general fund, which previously covered architectural fees.
The change order included in Tuesday’s e-packet states prior requests have increased the total price tag to $4.68 million.
A 1-mill tax increase will roll off the books once the project’s costs and fees are fully satisfied.
Area legislators also attempted to secure a $500,000 pledge from the state for the project, but the request fell by the wayside last month after lawmakers adjourned from the regular session with many budgetary items left unfinished.
The influx of $500,000 would have allowed Starkville to add three projects — a sally port, the installation of a secured wall around the facility’s parking lot and renovations to the building’s youth court space — back to the overall renovation effort after those items were cut once bids came in over budget.
Although legislators are expected to reconvene in a special session this spring or early summer, District 37 Rep. Gary Chism (R-Columbus) and District 38 Rep. Tyrone Ellis (D-Starkville) said the funding request is unlikely to come to fruition.
In other business, aldermen will discuss: calling public hearings to amend city code guiding Starkville Board of Adjustments and Appeals appointments; applying for a $600,000 Community Development Block Grant for sewer improvements in the Roundhouse Road area; accepting Treasure Lane as a public road, thereby allowing minor infrastructure improvements to be conducted in the future; leasing three 2017 Ford F-250s and a 2017 Ford-350 for the city’s sanitation department; and purchasing three pieces of equipment — a John Deere TX 4×2, John Deere 4044M compact utility tractor and Toro Sand Pro 3040 — on state contract at combined cost of $61,530.27.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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