A construction contract award for Flathead County’s South Campus Building has been delayed until 10 a.m. Wednesday to allow county officials more time to finalize a contract.

The commissioners have been working toward awarding the contract by the end of the year. In January, newly elected commissioner Phil Mitchell replaces Cal Scott, who has been heavily involved in developing better accommodations for the Agency on Aging.

The Agency on Aging will utilize the first floor of the two-story South Campus Building to be built on First Avenue West south of the Earl Bennett Building.

Kalispell Senior Center members recently voted to relocate to the new building; its members will share the Agency on Aging space.

A new plan has materialized for the second floor. 

It will house the Planning and Zoning Office and the Health Department’s environmental health division and Medicaid Health Improvement Program. Previously the county had planned to put the dental clinic there.

A minimal amount of space will be used by the Maintenance Department.

During public comments on Monday, Mitchell said he believes the county needs more time to consider funding options, given the building is projected to cost about $7 million. The county has allocated $6 million for the project in its capital improvement budget.

Mitchell said he favors the Agency on Aging being in the South Campus Building but said the project could benefit from further financial review.

“With the cost overruns this high, most companies would do a cost-value engineering of this project to see what can be done to help bring in some of the cost overruns,” Mitchell said.

Commissioner Gary Krueger said afterward that he doesn’t see the project as being rushed, but rather as making a timely decision yet this year.

“This thing has been delayed,” Krueger said. “And because it’s been delayed the decision came down” to the end of the year.

During discussion on Monday, the commissioners learned more about the factors driving the estimated $7 million price tag.

David Mitchell of CTA Architects Engineers said new requirements in state building codes require the county to install micro-piles in the building foundation to accommodate the silty glacial soil in that area. The micro-piles add $320,000 to the project.

Hooking up to city utilities will cost about $100,000, Mitchell said.

The project also includes a 50-space parking lot to the east and an upgrade of an alley.

David Mitchell said the heating and cooling system could be downgraded to a less costly but less efficient rooftop model.

The project also includes some building elements to accommodate a future third floor and sky bridge to connect with the Earl Bennett Building. He said those elements could be taken out, but it’s more economical to include them now rather than later.

County Administrator Mike Pence said the building “doesn’t have a lot of fluff” in the design or building materials.

“Every time you go into a project you’re operating on estimates,” Pence said about the $6 million earmark.

County officials have worked out a funding scenario that would tap into a portion of the county’s future payment-in-lieu-of-taxes, an annual federal appropriation that compensates counties for lost tax revenue from public lands.

That funding option likely would delay the renovation of the old jail building by a year.

“The old jail may fit the delay because the environmental cleanup has caused a delay already,” Pence said.

The county is restoring the old jail building south of the Courthouse to eventually relocate the County Attorney offices.

There’s no guarantee counties will continue getting payment-in-lieu money, Pence acknowledged, though he believes the federal funding is likely to continue.

Using payment-in-lieu money for both the South Campus and old jail buildings would still leave $1.95 million in the county’s ending payment-in-lieu cash balance by fiscal year 2017, according to Finance Department projections.

The Health Department is allocating $1.5 million from its budget for the South Campus Building.

County Health Administrator Joe Russell offered further insight into building costs on Monday as they relate to the addition of the third floor to the Earl Bennett Building. Adding the 14,000-square-foot third floor in 2009 cost $2.86 million, including construction and architect/engineering costs.

“This was just over $204 per square foot,” Russell said. “If you add a 2 percent cost-of-living factor over that period the building would cost $3,096,000, or $221 per square foot.”

That cost figure didn’t include site work, parking, landscaping or a foundation. That could add an additional 10 percent to the overall costs, Russell pointed out, bringing the total to about $243 per square foot.

Using the $7 million projected cost of the South Campus Building, it would cost $233 per square foot.

Oswood Construction of Great Falls and Swank Enterprises of Kalispell have the lowest bids for the South Campus Building, at $5,950,000 and $5,969,000, respectively. The bids don’t include architectural and permit fees.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.