With a rare dissenting vote, the Kanawha County Commission will re-bid the Judicial Annex project in separate parts.
Major renovations are needed to the building at 111 Court St. due to the state-mandated addition of a new circuit judge and three new magistrates. Bids for the project came in over budget, in part due to the requirement for night work.
Silling Architects of ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä is designing the renovations for the Kanawha County Judicial Annex, shown in this rendering.
Courtesy photo
Commissioners tried to work with their selected construction firm to change the scope of the project and lower the cost. However, the two parties could not agree. County officials and design firm Silling Architects will now find ways to reduce costs and scope in the rest of the project, including allowing work during the day.
The fifth-floor part of the project — where new Circuit Court Judge Richard Lindsay’s office and courtroom will be located — will go out for bid as soon as possible.
Thursday night, Commission President Lance Wheeler suggested that the commission find ways to get cheaper labor, such as paying lower than the Davis-Bacon wage.
This wage is federally determined after a survey of all construction projects in an area.
Whatever rate is determined to be the prevailing wage becomes the Davis-Bacon wage and is required to be used on federally funded construction projects, explained Justin Williams, director of West Virginia organization Affiliated Construction Trades.
West Virginia has repealed their state law requiring the use of a prevailing wage. However, in 2015, the Kanawha County Commission voted to keep prevailing wage rates for all county construction projects.
Wheeler asked the commission to vote to make this project an exception to that order.
“We need to save every dollar because we have a lot of projects moving forward in this county,†he said. “We [have] to be able to afford those projects on the budget that we have. So if we can’t do that, then this is the only project in 2025 that this County Commission will be able to afford.â€
Wheeler asked Jody Driggs with Silling Architects about his experience with the prevailing wage on projects.
“This is a complex project and the types of construction professionals that are capable of delivering certain types of projects are inherently likely union contractors,†Driggs said, adding that his answer would depend on the project.
Commissioners Ben Salango and Marc Slotnick disagreed with Wheeler.
Salango said he had seen projects around the state that didn’t use prevailing wage or union workers, and many times, the project had to be redone.
“I’m all about saving the taxpayers money,†Salango said. “What I’m not in favor of is wasting money by having to do a project twice just because they brought in unskilled labor so that the business owner can make a bunch of money and pay his workers minimum wage.â€
Slotnick said that Driggs’ comments caused him concern and he would need to see more data on the effects of removing a prevailing wage.
Wheeler’s motion to re-bid the fifth floor project and not require a Davis-Bacon wage failed for a lack of a second.
Salango’s motion to re-bid the project in parts and require using Davis-Bacon wages was agreed to by Commissioner Marc Slotnick. Wheeler voted against.
Funding allocation
During Thursday’s two-hour long meeting, commissioners allocated about $1.5 million in county funds:
$10,000 each to three businesses in the Upper Kanawha Valley
$100,000 divided between nine Kanawha County food pantries
$35,000 to the Southern Appalachian Labor School to help with free home repairs in the county
$343,000 from a state grant to distribute between all county fire departments
$10,000 for a pickleball and tennis court in Pratt
$55,000 to fix a bridge in Handley
$945,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funding to parking, shade and pickleball court repairs at Shawnee Sports Complex
ARPA issues
Commissioners will convene for an emergency virtual meeting before the end of the year to allocate a final $1.6 million of the ARPA funding.
Initially, county officials were told this money could be put in their general fund to make up for lost revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, this week, federal officials said that the money still needed to be allocated to a specific project by the end of the year.
A sewer project in Tornado was a potential candidate for the money Thursday evening, but commissioners were nervous the project may not be finished by the end of 2026 — the current deadline for ARPA projects to be completed.
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