ORD-2011-028 Budget Ordinance Amendment #1B for $192,243 Link Center Geothermal HVAC

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a �.� mod` /- �•��' g'� C. Bid Award: Link Center Geothermal HVAC and Approval of Budget Amendment # 1 -13 The Board considered awarding the bid and approving a construction contract to Warren Hay Mechanical, Hillsborough, NC, in the amount of $679,326 for the installation of geothermal HVAC system a John M. Link, Jr. Government Services Center to replace the existing system and authorize the Chair to sign subject to final review by the County Attorney. Asset Management Services Director Pam Jones said that the Board authorized the staff on May 17th to move forward with this project and to receive bids. The County received five bids and the abstract includes the bid tabulation. The bids ranged from $1,073,700 to $773,626. Of those bids, the lowest responsible bidder was Warren Hay Mechanical. Staff looked at a value engineering package, which further reduced the bid amount without changing anything substantial. This is above the cost estimates and staff is recommending moving forward with a budget amendment in the amount of $192,243. The project is expected to begin October 1St and should be finished by the end of March. The staff update is shown below: Proposed Geothermal Wells at Link Government Services Center - Update DEAPR staff examined the plans for the proposed geothermal wells at the Link Government Services Center as part of Asset Management Services' capital building project pre - development design and regulatory review process. After conducting the appropriate due diligence it is staff's opinion that a cultural and archaeological survey of the property is not warranted at this time. A detailed cultural and archaeological survey of the surrounding property will be needed, however, when the geothermal well system is linked to other government buildings in the area, as contemplated in the larger community geothermal system that may involve the Jail, the Old Courthouse, Government Services Annex, and Court Street Annex. It is staff's understanding that the total area that will be disturbed by this initial phase of the project is approximately 16,000 square feet, and virtually all of that area is now paved. Early maps of the area show no structures in the area of disturbance. Moreover, the Link Center property received considerable grading during its construction in 1992 and is not likely to contain significant archaeological resources. DEAPR conferred with the Office of State Archaeology (OSA) for review and guidance on this project. The OSA staff recommended examining topographic maps, historic Hillsborough maps, and the findings from a previous archaeological investigation prior to an expansion of the nearby Justice Facility. After reviewing the findings the Deputy State Archaeologist determined that the location for the proposed geothermal wells appears to have been too disturbed during previous construction to have the potential to contain significant archaeological resources. She advised that further archaeological investigations are not recommended for this project, but agreed that a survey of the surrounding properties should be conducted prior to linking the geothermal well system to other buildings in the area. DEAPR shared its findings and the recommendations of the Office of State Archaeology with the Orange County Historic Preservation Commission. The consensus of that group was that no survey of the property would be warranted until further ground- disturbing activities are needed to connect the geothermal wells to other government buildings.