91视频

The Portland City Council on Wednesday agreed to accept a bid far higher than the original estimate to repair and seismically upgrade a leaky 911 call center. Officials say the current construction boom is to blame.

Skyward Construction of Ridgefield, Wash., bid $2.78 million 鈥� $693,000 more than the city estimated 鈥� to upgrade the Portland Communications Center. It was the only firm to bid.

The complicated upgrade will involve fixing the facility鈥檚 roof and envelope without impeding emergency operations. The city鈥檚 project manager, Sharon Raymor, surmised that with all the work happening around Portland, contractors that regularly work with the city could afford to sit this project out.

鈥淏ecause it鈥檚 a 24-7 operation that鈥檚 going to remain fully occupied during construction, there is a lot of risk,鈥� she said. 鈥淓ssentially, it was that there were more opportunities elsewhere that weren鈥檛 as complex.鈥�

During a hearing Wednesday to accept the bid, Commissioner Nick Fish asked Raymor why the project wasn鈥檛 put back out to bid. She replied that because the project involves methods potentially disruptive to 911 operators, much of the work will be done during the hours of lowest call volume 鈥� 2 to 6 a.m. Monday through Thursday.

鈥淚 think having to account for work during a very odd-hour swing shift is helping drive the cost up,鈥� she said.

Raymor said that despite the high bid, the cost is still under budget. The project is being paid for with money from the Major Maintenance and Asset Replacement Fund.

鈥淲ith this specific project, I don鈥檛 know that we could package it any other way, because of the nature of the facility,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a critical facility.鈥�

Skyward project manager Glenn Taggart said the firm hopes to begin construction Aug. 1 and finish in six months.

鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a tough one,鈥� he told the 91视频. 鈥淭he hardest part is probably going to be the seismic stuff on the inside.鈥�

The city isn鈥檛 the only entity having trouble finding qualified crews. Taggart said securing specialized subcontractors hasn鈥檛 been easy.

Fish brought up that during the Great Recession, firms bid on projects outside their comfort zones in part to keep their crews busy. This led to lower costs for public projects.

鈥淭hey were undercutting the market because they had fixed costs, and so they wanted the work,鈥� he said. 鈥淎re we at risk of the reverse now? Because there鈥檚 so much activity in our community, we鈥檙e getting fewer bids and people are bidding at a premium? Is it a double-whammy for us?鈥�

Taggart was Skyward鈥檚 estimator for the project.

鈥淲e鈥檝e done a lot of these kinds of projects, and I鈥檇 say we鈥檙e pretty much experts at them and what they cost,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd when we were bidding it, we thought we were fully competitive.鈥�

Skyward intends to self-perform $2.45 million of the contract amount and dedicate 9.3 percent of the total bid 鈥� $260,000 鈥� to minority-owned or women-owned subcontractors.

Commissioner Steve Novick said replacing the facility鈥檚 roof has been a high priority for the Bureau of Emergency Communications for several years. Employees have had to rig buckets and tubing to prevent water from leaking onto electronics when snow accumulates on the roof.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a constant fear that that system will fail, and it sends a terrible message to our hard-working call-takers and dispatchers who have to navigate around buckets when they come to work,鈥� he said.