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Page 3 of 3 Update (1/21/08): As potential candidates for Bidding Round 2 a list of 10 small and specialty general contractors, and 9 specialty sub-contractors was delivered to Panich and Noel on Nov. 1. The second bid solicitation was started, but not all from the list decided to participate when contacted by Panich and Noel. Therefore, Panich and Noel contacted additional contractors with whom they are familiar from their project base and identified several more general contractors and mechanical contractors who indicated a willingness to bid. Since these latter contractors didn't receive their materials until early Dec., a deadline of Jan. 15 was established to allow for the Christmas and New Years holidays and yet provide us bid information ahead of our annual business meeting. Then, just two days before the deadline, we learned that one contractor who had expressed interest in bidding never got his materials! So bids were received and the remaining contractor was given materials to review. After carefully studying the plans, and given the compressed timeline to develop a bid, that contrator then declined. So now bids will be opened on Jan. 22, and the Project Team will meet within a week to outline our plans for acting on these bids. Mike Noel reports that he was encouraged by those who now have agreed to participate in Round 2. Unfortunately he thinks the figures will still be higher than we anticipate. Assuming a financial plan for a manageable construction loan and future mortgage paymentws can be successfully determined, groundbreaking and construction would be anticipated sometime in the spring of 2008 and would continue through the summer. As we say HELLO! to 2008, we rejoice in your faithful giving toward "Building For A Better Tomorrow." And I look forward to taking the first steps toward the revitalization of our facility. Therefore we have requested an explanation from the general contractors, and will allow them to participate in a rebid, IF they so chose, along with additional small contractors who are yet to be identified. If YOU know, or have experience with any, reliable, high-quality construction general contractor crews whom you would recommend for the project, please let the church office know by the end of Oct. at the latest. Update Sept., 2007: All the initial general contractor bids were rejected out of hand because they all were extraordinarily high priced, totaling well over $1 million vs. an expectation of under $500 thousand. The bids received fall beyond the expected norms for construction in this area. For example, the net cost per square foot of finished interior space would have been well over $500/sq.ft. compared to a "norm" typically less than $150/sq.ft. Even though the new interior area we are creating is relatively small vs. the amount of exterior parking lot and site work, neither the architect nor we could account for why these bids were so exceedingly high. | |||||