New animal shelter design process started in Porter County
Post-Tribune
October 27, 2015 - 5:57PM
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-commissioners-in-porter-st1028-20151027-story.html
The Porter County Board of Commissioners took an important step Tuesday in getting a new animal shelter built.
Commissioners kicked off the start of the design-build process for a new shelter, to be located on Indiana 49 just south of the Porter County Sheriff's Department, and construction could begin in the spring.
Commissioners appointed Kurt Schmiegel, of the architectural and engineering firm DLZ, as the project's design criteria developer, and appointed Schmiegel, Commissioner Jeff Good, R-Center; and Jim Dyer, of Berglund Construction, to serve as members of a technical review committee for the project.
A 2014 state statute allows the design-build process, which permits modifications and ways to control costs along the way, Good said.
The process starts with the resolution, which commissioners approved at their meeting, followed by the technical review committee putting out a request for qualifications, or RFQ, for a contractor to take on the project.
Once at least three firms submit RFQs for the project, Good said, the technical review committee asks for a request for proposals from those contractors for the project, and includes the square footage, features, number of rooms and other details.
The step after that, Good said, would be to select a contractor.
There's no cost estimate for the project at this point, Good said, adding that is something that will be determined during the design-build process. An earlier estimate a few years ago by Shelter Planners of America put an estimated cost for a shelter at $2.5 million, but officials have said that figure was too high. An anonymous donor also has offered $1 million toward the cost of a new shelter.
Good expects ground to be broken in the spring, and said the county has been in talks with the Indiana Department of Transportation about extending an access road that now serves the sheriff's department and Pratt Industries so entrance to the shelter would not be off Ind. 49, as well as talking to the city of Valparaiso about providing utilities to the site.
Commissioners announced almost a year ago that a new shelter would be built on Ind. 49 but work had not started on the project. It was the latest of several sites bandied about for a shelter to replace the one at 2056 Heavilin Road, which county officials have long said was too small and outdated for the number of animals it handles.
"We are more than ready to proceed," said Commissioners President John Evans, R-North.
In related business, commissioners extended Toni Bianchi's consulting contract as interim shelter director for another two months, though the end of the year.
As of Jan. 1, she will hold the post permanently; during a budget hearing Monday, the county council approved her salary at $60,000, an increase from $45,000, in recognition of the responsibilities of the post and an effort to increase the salaries of department heads.
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