By Henry Bailey
The Commercial Appeal
DESOTO COUNTY, Tenn. — The opening of bids next month for the new, expanded DeSoto County Jail fires the starting gun to construction on the long-awaited, $16 million facility to ease inmate crowding.
“Plans and specifications were delivered and we plan to open bids at 2:30 p.m. on May 12,” said County Administrator Michael Garriga.
He said he had been informed by the county’s architectural consultant, the Evans Taylor Foster Childress firm of Memphis, that 13 general contractors had picked up packets.
Garriga would not speculate on the range of bid amounts expected but said: “Given the current economic environment I’m extremely optimistic that bids will come in at less than our established budget. I anticipate very competitive bids.”
The bids sought are for the first phase of a jail that eventually could house 1,000 inmates, meeting county needs into midcentury. The initial phase calls for a 65,000-square-foot structure with 280 beds, plus core kitchen, medical and laundry facilities that can be expanded “as beds and pods are added in later phases,” said Garriga.
The current downtown jail will remain in operation, taking on more of a juvenile detention role; the new jail will rise on 51.3 acres just south of the Hernando city limits.
Michael Childress, a partner in the Evans Taylor firm, says he expects the jail done and ready for occupancy by spring 2013. Garriga says if there are no hitches in the bid process, “we expect to see construction start in early July.”
After opening, bids will be reviewed by county procurement director Vanessa Lynchard and staff; a recommendation and vote to accept a bid could come at the DeSoto Board of Supervisors meeting on May 16.
“Certainly we hope we can get some competitive pricing,” said Supervisor Tommy Lewis. Noting a monthslong jail-site selection process that included easements, neighbor concerns and a special state bill to avert annexation issues, he added: “There’s been a lot of hoops to jump through and we’re still jumping through them.”
Once a bid is accepted, says Garriga, he expects specification details will need to be ironed out in meetings with County Atty. Tony Nowak and the consultants.
At the jail site now, the county is building its access road and taking care of details such as permits with the DeSoto Regional Utility Authority for expansion of the sewer system.
While $140,000 had been budgeted for road access work extending Industrial Drive West, the winning bid in February came in at just $78,122 from Lamb Construction of Hernando. The county is plowing the $62,000 savings back into the project “to help with our bottom line” - and hopes it can do the same with the winning construction bid, said Garriga.
“I’m hoping our budget estimates are conservative,” he said.
Copyright 2011 The Commercial Appeal, Inc.