Bids were opened during the February 18 meeting of the Starke County Commissioners on renovations to the Starke County Annex No. 2 building at 108 N. Pearl Street in Knox.
Brent Martin from SKRM Architects explained that the project at the former jail building includes enclosing the former exercise yard on the south side of the building for additional office space and a meeting room, and some other work to be done inside the building on the northern end.
Two bids were received. Tonn and Blank Construction submitted a bid of $329,000 and EAM Construction submitted a bid of $240,624.
Martin said that he will review the bids and specifications and come back to the commissioners in an upcoming meeting to provide a recommendation for approval. The commissioners unanimously approved a motion to take the bids under advisement.
Starke County Maintenance Director Rick Green went before the Starke County Council during their meeting Tuesday, February 18 concerning the funding of this project. Council President Todd Leinbach said the money could come out of the CEDIT Fund or the Cumulative Capital Fund, but said he is afraid to commit to funding until there are discussions at the state level concerning Senate Bill 1 which would affect property taxes and funding toward municipal government. He said there could be changes to staffing and tax discussions at the local level.
Leinbach commented that tabling the matter does not mean that there is opposition toward the project. Funding is a concern at this point.
Councilman Howard Bailey asked about the need for this project, and Green said that the room is needed for Community Corrections.
Councilman Bruce Bennett made a motion to table the request to fund the project and the motion was seconded by Councilwoman Kay Gudeman. The motion was unanimously approved.
