Town gets recession special on police station

The town will pay 52 percent less than expected for a new police station — an astonishing savings characterized as a recession bargain.

Another sign of the desperate economic times, a whopping 16 contractors bid on the construction project that will transform the 1960s-era church building at 740 Old Brandy Road into a modern police headquarters.

“I have been in this business 40 years and I have never had a bidding situation that looked like this,” said project manager Bob Anderson with Dominion Development of Charlottesville. “I have never seen a bid come in this low.”

At Tuesday’s meeting, Culpeper Town Council unanimously awarded the $1.5 million construction project to low bidder C.L. Lewis & Co. of Lynchburg.

The original construction estimate was $3.25 million, meaning a $1.7 million discount.

All told, including furniture, equipment, security, design fees a new roof and the cost of the 20,000-square-foot building ($2.85 million), the project will cost the town $5.49 million.

Anderson, though lamenting the fact that “the construction industry is really suffering,” said the extremely low bids were “because we happen to be here in this place at this time.”

He lauded Town Council for having the foresight to move quickly to bid the project so as to take advantage of the low construction costs.

Because the bids came in so low, and in an effort to further take advantage of low costs, he and others involved with the police station project recommended that a new roof be put on the building. When the town first bought the building last year, it was thought that the roof had another 15 years on it.

But officials now say the roof is “dead flat” and does not drain well. Town Engineer Fritz Alderman affirmed that the roof is showing signs of leaking.

The roof replacement will be bid separately and is conservatively estimated to cost $234,500, an outlay already included in the total project cost.

Councilman Duke duFrane, who said he owns commercial buildings in Richmond, felt that was a bit high.

He inquired if there were any stimulus grant opportunities that could help fund the roof portion.

Anderson said they would look into that since replacing the roof would improve the building’s overall energy efficiency, making it potentially eligible for a grant.

“The savings is just astronomical,” he said, incredulous, of the overall project.

At Tuesday night’s meeting, Town Council also authorized its financial consultants to solicit bids for bank financing for the project.

The plan is to sign off on the construction contract and financing at next month’s meeting.

If all goes as planned, construction on the new police station would begin in mid or late September, according to Town Manager Jeff Muzzy.

Of the 16 contractors that bid on the project, at least two were from Culpeper, including Jefferson Homebuilders, which submitted the highest bid of $2.3 million.

Taft Construction, also of Culpeper, submitted a bid of $1.7 million.

What a bargain!

When the town requested bids on the police station project, the cost estimate was around $3.25 million. On Tuesday, the contract was awarded to C.L. Lewis & Co. of Lynchburg for less than half that amount — $1.5 million.

The town also must replace the roof on the former Providence Bible Church, which will be handled in a separate contract. That’s expected to cost $234,500