Commissioners reject all bids for work release program

The Pulaski County Commissioners decided to reject all bids for the work release program and to hold off on conducting re-bids until more financial growth is seen in the county. The decision came during the commissioners' regular meeting on Jan. 3 after Pulaski County Community Development Commission Executive Director Nathan Origer brought up the item again for discussion.Three bids were opened on Monday, Dec. 12 for the project. The highest base bid came from Brown and Brown General Contractors Inc., for $1,145,200. The second highest was from Yoder Construction in the amount of $1,098,390 and the lowest from Gibson-Lewis LLC in Mishawaka in the amount of $1,053,800. Origer said that although Gibson-Lewis was the lowest bid, it still was higher than what was expected or hoped. According to Origer, based off of the cost breakdown provided by Gibson-Lewis, there are no line items where there would be room for significant savings. That is because most of the big ticket items for the project are related to infrastructure, which the justice center basement does not have much standing currently. The commissioners have until early February to make a decision on who to go with for the project construction.