The Starke County Commissioners discussed courthouse elevator bids during their meeting this week.
John Kirk from DLZ informed the commissioners that he reviewed the bids submitted from Michiana Contracting in Plymouth and Gibson Lewis in Mishawaka. After review, Kirk said the lowest bid meets the all of the requirements for the project and Shawn Cain from K-IRPC concurred with Kirk’s evaluation.
The lowest bid was submitted by Gibson Lewis at $288,500. The alternate bid will not be considered as the paperwork goes forward. The commissioners unanimously approved the bid from Gibson Lewis.
The county was awarded grant funds through K-IRPC for this project and Cain said she has already initiated paperwork for the release of funds with the Office of Community and Rural Affairs.
Kirk said the project to replace the elevator to meet ADA requirements may not start for a few weeks.
“We’ll get an idea, in the next week or so, with Gibson Lewis what the lead time is on it,” said Kirk. “We don’t want to see the elevator down any longer in the courthouse than it is. Everybody is just so busy right now I don’t know what the lead time is on the elevator. I’ve heard as many as 16 weeks.”
