While most of the attention at Monday’s Bridgeport City Council meeting involved the pledge of up to $500,000 to assist in the Johnson Elementary project, an item four times as expensive also got an approval from the city’s governing body. And it’s also another sign that the indoor recreation complex is moving closer to reality.

 

By a unanimous vote, Council officially approved an agreement between the city and Omni Associates. Omni is an architectural firm based out of Fairmont.

 

Council approved a near $2 million contract for Omni for design and other responsibilities relating to the indoor complex. In January, four companies bid on the project and Omni’s bid was at $1.999 million.

 

Unlike contract bids, A&E bids being awarded aren’t based on bid price. In fact, Bridgeport is only allowed to consider cost of services on the A&E front as a stipulation of Home Rule. The four bids for service ranged between 1.725 million and $2.063 million when they were opened in January.

 

Omni and the city haven’t been sitting on their hands since that time. Instead, Omni and the city have been working out the details of the contract and also working on the project.

 

City Manager Kim Haws said the sticking point in negotiations involved the difference in how most A&E firms now do projects versus how the city expects them to be done. Haws told members of Council during the work session prior to the regular meeting that A&E firms usually remain the owners of the design and work that is done on any project. Haws said the city doesn’t prescribe to that.

 

“Our feeling is and will continue to be that if we pay for it then we own it,” said Haws.

 

Haws emphasized the issue wasn’t a bone of contention. Rather, he said it was an issue they worked around – along with a few others – and it’s an issue they’ve worked with in dealing with other design firms.

 

“Understand, this whole process has been amicable,” said Haws. “It wasn’t contentious. Everyone was cooperative and wanting to make sure it gets done.”

 

Mayor Robert “Bob” Greer said A&E services typically make up 10 percent – on the low end – to as high as 18 percent of a project’s cost. That could signal that the new building could be in the $20 million range, but nothing has been officially announced or determined yet.

 

The new indoor recreation complex will be funded with the additional 1 percent sales tax the city put in place in July 1 of 2016. Before going out to bid, banks typically want a minimum of six to eight quarters of financial information before agreeing to provide the funding to pay for the project.

 

The matter didn’t draw any discussion during the regular session of Council. Richard “Dick” Forren of Omni was in attendance at the meeting.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Council during Monday's work session, while a file shot of Richard Forren is shown below.