The Bulloch County Board of Commissioners took a small, but important, step this week in the process of building the new county administrative annex on North Main Street.

The board voted unanimously during its regular meeting Tuesday morning to approve selecting Statesboro-based Lavender & Associates as the building project's construction manager at-risk.

Lavender & Associates submitted the lowest bid, $90,500 for total maximum overhead cost, and had the strongest proposal among competing firms.

Under the construction manager at-risk model, the firm that serves as construction manager commits to deliver the project within a guaranteed maximum price. The construction manager acts as a consultant to the owner — in this case, Bulloch County — in a project's development and design phases and as a general contractor during actual construction, County Manager Tom Couch explained in a memo to commissioners.

"When a construction manager is bound to a (guaranteed maximum price), the fundamental character of the relationship is changed," Couch wrote. "In addition to acting in the owner's interest, the construction manager must control construction costs to stay within the (price)."

Under the traditional model, any unanticipated cost overruns on a construction project have to be paid for by change orders, which would cost the county. The guaranteed maximum price protects against such cost overruns becoming the county's liability.

The $90,500 in overhead costs is part of the county's budgeted $2.2 million cost for the new annex, which will go where a motel used to be next to the county's North Main Annex. It will be paid for from 1997 and 2007 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax funds.

Palmer Architects, also based in Statesboro, is the project's architect and is expected to finish its full design plans in the coming weeks. The start date of construction is on or about Jan. 1.

Tuesday's vote was not the final approval that will be needed on the entire project, as the design, among other things, also will need to come before the commissioners.
Several Bulloch County Historical Society members, and others in the community, have offered input into what the building should look like, including the desire that it be in historical character with other buildings in downtown Statesboro. County officials have indicated that the input is being considered as design plans are being developed.

Jason Wermers may be reached at (912) 489-9431.