Commissioners may take action on jail roof

Curry County Commissioners may take action to fix the jail’s roof during a special commission meeting slotted for Thursday morning after they tabled a bid on June 30.

The $592,900 bid from DKG & Associates was tabled due to the high cost, but county officials were able to talk with the company and reach an agreement to get the price reduced, according to Chairman Ben McDaniel.

According to Curry County Manager Lance Pyle, the agreeable price is $490,760.

“We have heard from the lowest responsive bidder, DKG & Associates, that they will be willing to reduce the price to $490,760 if the timeframe can be extended to 60 days,” Pyle said.

Initially, the county was hoping to get the project completed within 30 days, Pyle said. However, that would require contractors to work on the roof for six days a week and pull 10-hour shifts each day. According to Pyle, the lower price allows workers to work a standard 40-hour workweek, pulling eight-hour shifts for five days a week.

“If the commission agrees, they are willing to lower price if they can extend (the project) by 30 days to complete it,” Pyle said.

“I’m better with the price now,” McDaniel said, who refuted the original cost. “It seems that it ended up about $100,000 less. Since it’s a government deal, you have to do all sorts of extra stuff.”

The “extra stuff,” McDaniel referred to are requirements the government has in place for government facilities, which can add up over time, Commissioner Chet Spear said.

“Government buildings have to have certain requirements,” Spear said. “That adds up to a lot, almost twice the money.”

Pyle said the state mandates the county to pay prevailing wage rates to workers, plus worker’s compensation. The state also requires government buildings to comply with international building code requirements, and anyone working on the jail will be required to undergo background checks, Pyle said.

“There is nothing the county can do,” Pyle said. “We are mandated by state government. As a result, government projects come in (at a higher price) than they would in the private sector.”

Housing inmates in other counties adds up, too — and fast. According to Sandra Stewart, public services director for Curry County, housing 59 inmates in four different counties since May has cost taxpayers around $92,000.

“Yeah, it’s expensive,” Stewart said. “The rates facilities charge are all over the place. They’re going through a lot of trouble to stay with reasonable places.”

The 59 inmates are currently being held in Roosevelt and Lincoln counties in New Mexico, and Bailey and Parmer counties in Texas.

Yet another cost eating away at the county is the seemingly constant repairs the current roof has endured since its construction in 1993. That cost has now ratcheted up to $18,822,26 in May and June alone, Pyle said.

“That doesn’t include the work we’ve done in July,” Pyle explained. “The roof has continued to leak, and again, it leaked again (Monday) night. The roofing contractor was back today to find the leak but hasn’t been successful.”

Pyle said the cost to remediate the damage from the "hole-y" roof is now “a little over $17,380.”

“That is just to remediate, it does not include duct cleaning or repairs,” Pyle said. “It is very … we’ve just got to have this project. The roof has to be addressed.”

Stewart agreed.

“We need to get the roof repaired and get the remediation done, and then we get to bring (the inmates) back,” she said. “As I said, the roof is on the agenda for Thursday; that’s obviously a first step.”