Victoria MN Newspaper-The Scoop at City Hall

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HIRING A CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

TO OVERSEE NEW P.W. AND CITY HALL BUILDINGS

Three firms were interviewed at an early 4 p.m. workshop on Monday, August 26th, by three councilmembers -- Mayor Tom O'Connor, Tom Strigel, and Joe Pavelko. Also in attendance were City Manager Don Uram, City Engineer Cara Geheren, and Public Works Superintendent Chuck Almjheld.

At the subsequent 6:30 p.m. city council meeting Council voted 4-0 to hire Stahl Construction of St. Louis Park as the Construction Manager to oversee and manage the construction of a new Victoria City Hall and new Public Works Building. Councilmember Lani Basa was absent.

Stahl's fee to serve the City of Victoria in that capacity is $198,000. A contract will be brought back to Council for approval in September. As City Manager Don Uram previously pointed out, "The proposals are for a scope of services, not for design."

As Mayor O'Connor summarized prior to making the motion that evening to hire Stahl, "The city received 12 proposals. We narrowed it down to three. We interviewed those three firms tonight. I had the sense all three firms could get the buildings built. One of the firms was $100,000 cheaper than another."

The three firms and their fees were Stahl Construction $198,000, RJM Construction $350,000, and Adolfson Peterson Construction (A&P) $ 280,400. Of all 12 bids, Stahl had the lowest and A&P the highest.

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Presentations and Interviews

Stahl Construction

Dale Sonnichsen, project manager, and Gary Maciejny, project superintendent, spoke for Stahl Construction.

Mr. Sonnichsen said that the company was founded by Wayne Stahl in 1981 and started with small projects. The company transitioned to doing larger projects in the late 1980's and early 1990's.

"We got an elementary school in 1992," he said. "That successful project transitioned us to become the construction manager for Lakeville for the next ten years. It transitioned us to public projects."

He said the company has from 20 to 25 employees and four project managers. "Wayne Stahl is still there every day," said Mr. Sonnichsen. "I joined Wayne in 1987. We've got a lot of projects together. We work well together. Our experience will provide value to you as our client in the design and building process. We bring 50 years of solving problems to your project."

"Communication is the key to any successful project," he said. "I'll be happy to come and give presentations to you on progress of the projects. Before we make a recommendation to you, we'll have vetted the bidders. We'd be hired as your consultant. The low bidder must also be responsive and responsible."

"We made some assumptions in our proposal," he said. "To get the best and lowest price bids, we go out in January so construction would begin in the spring. Prices are going up. It's harder to get people interested. We assume both city projects would go simultaneously with a construction time of five months. The two sites are ten minutes apart.

"I'm a resident of Shorewood where they went through this process that you're going through ten years ago. They ended up with a design that was a bit more than what the appetite of the residents was. I'm sensitive to what you are going through.

"After the construction document phase, we work with the architect. We work to get the best bids with the best prices. Our basis for our fees is in three parts: $7,500 lump sum pre-construction fee, which is not charged if the project doesn't proceed; $183,000 lump sum construction manager fee; dollars for reimbursables for items like the trailer, based on a five-month construction time at $1,500 a month.

"Our experience, both's Gary's and mine, will provide value to you as our client. We're setting the table for the best price and the least cost at the end of the project. We're not a large company."

Gary Mciejny said he's been with Stahl 24 years and worked on projects in Lake-ville and a big city project in Richfield.

"Everyone who comes onto the construction site will answer to me," he said. "We have weekly safety foremen meetings. It makes sure that everybody knows what everybody else is doing. I walk the site everyday and monitor the quality every day. You're not going to be a number to us. It'd be a personal relationship and we'd look forward to working with you. I'm on call. We don't just go away when the project is done."

Click here to continue Construction Manager Interview.

The Victoria Fire Department

City of Victoria 952-443-2771

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