Board fails to accept bid for judicial center demolition project

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June 7, 2008

By SUSAN WHEELDON, Staff Writer The Commonwealth Journal Sat Jun 07, 2008, 07:47 PM EDT

Somerset — The Pulaski County Develop-ment Board failed in a meeting last week to accept one of the demolition bids involved in the new judicial center project.

Instead, after neatly 45 minutes of discussion, the board opted to extend negotiations and then re-bid the project if costs still needed to be lowered.

Only two contractors bid on the project — with the lowest still 32 percent higher than what was budgeted.

The two bids included Wilson and Roy at $796,400 and Weddle Enterprises at $496,212.

Board member Sarah Boswell Dent from the Administrative Office of the Courts, said she believed over-budget cost came because of the delays over site selection. The county was approved for the money by the Kentucky legislature in 2005. Now, three years later, ground has yet to be broken.

“We don’t have any choice but to reject the bids and change the scope,” said Dent, “and see if we can get any closer.

“I’m concerned about future phrases (of the project),” added Dent.

“ ... the longer it takes us to build this the more off balance we get,” she added.

Meanwhile, Shane Weddle with Weddle Enterprises asked the board how they came up with a budget amount.

Dent explained there are estimates made for each step of the process as the process moves along, depending whatever is needed and land acquisition cost.

“My big concern is time is money in this business,” said Dent. “We can’t go back to the legislature and ask for more money.”

“I’d be very surprised if you could get within the budget,” said Weddle.

While at first Dent, believed they would have to immediately rebid the project, upon speaking with Garland Vanhook, general manager of facilities for the Administrative Office of the Courts, the board found that they could negotiate with the contractors before rebidding the project.

Currently, representatives of the board are working with the two contractors to see if they can come closer to budget before rebidding. However, if that doesn’t happen by the end of Monday, the board will begin the rebid process.

The judicial complex will be located in the area of Market Street and South Maple Street area, in downtown Somerset. The plan took properties that were along the downtown fountain square and south Maple Streets, along with Market Street.

Properties which were purchased for the judicial center include the former storefronts of The Pink Bee, Kasandra’s Pie Barn God’s Food Pantry and Brandywine Studios, Ron Wilson’s office, the Smith Staples building, Coldiron offices, the Salutsky building, David Rogers Photography, The Mills building, Southern Office Supply, Bowan building and the First and Farmers Bank drive-thru.

The Pulaski County Judicial Center project was one for the 18 judicial center projects authorized by the 2005 General Assembly and funded by the 2006 General Assembly. The original project plan was for a 77,000-square-foot judicial center with an estimated total project cost of $22.4 million.

Members of the Judicial Planning and Development Board include Bullock, chair; circuit clerk George Flynn, vice chair; magistrate Mike Wilson; circuit judge Jeffrey Burdette; attorney John Prather Jr.; and Sarah Boswell Dent, representing the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC).

The purpose of the board is to ensure that county and court officials have input on all aspects of the project.

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Pulaski carries Girdler to win

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s primary election, it was impossible to miss the colorful signs dotting nearly every Pulaski roadway. The names in the race for the 15th State Senatorial District seat popped out: A.C. Donahue. Chris Girdler. Mark Polston.

Once citizens hit the ballots, however, the results mirrored the dimensions of the signs themselves: Chris Girdler stood the tallest.

Girdler, deputy district director for Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers, ran away with the votes inside Pulaski County’s borders, earning 3,926 votes for 62.05 percent of the total number cast.

That number more than doubled the next highest vote-getter, businessman Mark Polston, who raked in 1,624 votes for 25.67 percent.

However, Polston — who owns Classic Carpet, a home-flooring business located just off the southern 914 bypass — can claim a moral victory ... three of them, in fact. In all three counties in the district other than Pulaski — those being Adair, Casey, and Russell Counties — Polston actually edged out Girdler.

In Adair, Polston beat Girdler 629 to 394. In Casey County, it was 538 to 417, and in Russell, it was 1,862 to 1,038.

Polston said he just “couldn’t pull it out with the numbers” and that “the machine worked for” Girdler in Pulaski County.

“I think that was their strategy — I think they had a Pulaski County strategy all along,” said Polston. “They played the political game well.”

Polston said the difference between his and Girdler’s campaigns was that “mine was a very, very grass roots campaign,” he said. “I did not have a political machine behind me. I understand how this process works, and in this instance, he prevailed.”

As for why Girdler didn’t take three of four counties, the winning candidate — since there are no Democrats in the race, winning the Republican primary was effectively a final victory for Girdler — said he didn’t have an answer for that.

However, “I believe things happen for a reason and I hope the long and strenuous campaign will only heighten my desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past,” said Girdler.

“Regionalism is a goal of mine, and I look forward to helping all four counties,” he added, noting that he campaigned heavily in each of them.

Sen. Vernie McGaha, the long-time state senator whose seat the candidates were vying for, actually supported Polston after Liberty’s Todd Hoskins dropped out of the race earlier this month.

Donahue, a local attorney, got 556 votes in Pulaski County, 8.79 percent of the vote. He only received 145 votes in Russell County, 74 in Adair County, and 75 in Casey County, where hometown candidate Hoskins almost matched him with 71 votes despite no longer being officially in the race.

Polston said he’s “still digesting” what happened, and though “the process has been a very good experience for me,” he wouldn’t commit to running again in the future. “I wouldn’t shut the door to anything, but I’m not opening any doors either.”

Still, “I think I got a lot of people involved in the process that had not been involved before and would not have been otherwise,” he said. “A lot of people got out and worked really hard, got motivated to talk to friends and neighbors. I think a lot of people became involved through this campaign that are going to be involved for a long time.”

Girdler stressed his “positive message” and said that Rogers is a “mentor and good friend” that he would turn to for advice in dealing with a frequently combative legislative body in Frankfort, one for which Girdler hopes to help change the culture.

Girdler said that he was “confident and optimistic” during the day Tuesday because he’d “worked extremely hard.” Nevertheless, the realization that he’d won gave him “chill bumps,” he said.

“I’m absolutely honored,” said Girdler. “The position of state senator is more than an honor, more than an office. It’s a charge to keep, and I will give it my all.

“I pledge to be the people’s state senator,” he added. “I look forward to working with everyone to move this region forward.”

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