Of the almost $12 million worth of bids approved Tuesday night by Allen County hospital trustees, about $1 million will go to subcontractors in southeast Kansas.
Trustees discussed the bids concerning 17 areas, including landscaping, millwork, roofing, tile, flooring and plumbing, heating and cooling.
One-fourth of those awarded went to southeast businesses. The biggest ticket items — plumbing, heating and cooling and electrical — will most likely go to P1 Group out of Lawrence, for a total of $6,048,407.
LOCALLY, TLC Gardens of LaHarpe will be in charge of landscaping the hospital grounds. Barnett Landscaping, Iola, and Tony’s Lawn Care, Chanute, also vied for the job. All three could stay within the “allowable budget,” of $125,000, Sheldon Streeter, project manager with Murray Construction, said.
The hospital’s mason work will be handled by A Lusker Masonry of Frontenac, which came in with a bid for $263,000. The next lowest bid was $317,925. Streeter said union money was used for the Frontenac business to give it a more attractive bid.
Also from Frontenac, Mid-America Roofing will handle the roof of the hospital. Its bid was $334,532 compared to the second lowest bid by Standard Sheet Metal of Andover for $437,809.
From Parsons, The Home Store will provide ceramic tile for $237,878. Great Plains of Lenexa was the only other bidder, at $358,500.
Trustees asked David Wright, architect with Health Facilities Group, to further vet the bids for painting. Capitol Painting of Roeland Park came in lowest at $125,575. Center States Painting of Mound City came in not quite $6,000 higher. Trustees said they might go with the higher bid in an effort to keep as much business local as possible.
Hofer and Hofer of Humboldt, however, lost out to Gardner Construction of Liberty, Mo. for carpentry work. Gardner’s bid was $330,181 compared to Hofer’s $518,420.
“I was disappointed by the big spread,” said Streeter. “I was hoping it would be closer so we could go with Hofer, but the difference was too much to overcome.”
Streeter said work such as concrete could not be locally bid.
“Foundations and flat work for a hospital are complex,” he said. “Local contractors recognize how complicated a pier system with integral grade beams can be. For the flat work, there’s so many penetrations needed for the plumbing system. This kind of expertise is not typical of local workers.”
George Shaw of Kansas City won the bid to do the concrete work. Its bid of $593,157 came in lower than that of Grimmett Masonry of Emporia for $604,004.
Kitchens, Inc. of Dodge City won the bid for millwork for cabinets and solid surfaces. Its bid was $330,181. Hi-Lo of Chanute did not submit a complete bid, Streeter said.
Other bids awarded went to Jacor of Kansas City for caulking; Commercial Openings of North Kansas City, Mo., for doors; Sowards of Topeka for glass and glazing; Regents Flooring of Lenexa for flooring; Drywall Systems of Olathe for drywall and acoustic ceilings; and Advantage of Olathe for fire protection.
PLUMBING and HVAC consume about 30 percent of the budget at $4,305,907. Electrical is another $1,742,500.
