YSU’s veterans center on a fast track

YSU’s veterans center on a fast track

YSU Veterans Center is progressing

Youngstown

Construction of Youngstown State University’s Veterans Resource Center will be completed by May.

The quick timetable is permitted through a design-build process which is new for public institutions in Ohio, said John Hyden, YSU’s executive director of facilities.

“It allows construction to begin while design is still going on,” he said.

Previously, design had to be completed, the project advertised for bids, a contract awarded and construction begun.

The veteran’s resource center is the first YSU project to follow the design-build process. A schematic plan for the building has already been done by ms Consultants, Youngstown, for about $41,000.

The two-floor, 6,000-square-foot project was estimated at $1 million, but all three firms presenting to trustees Finance and Facilities Committee at a meeting Monday submitted proposals exceeding that amount.

The committee scored the three firms — Mike Coates Construction of Niles, Adolph Johnson & Son of Mineral Ridge and Davis International of Youngstown — on several qualifications criteria including project design, adherence to time line and appropriate staffing levels. Coates scored 70.7, Johnson got 80.3 and Davis got 76.5.

Those numbers accounted for 40 percent of the overall score. The remaining 60 percent was determined by each company’s guaranteed maximum price. Coates’ GMP was $1.49 million, Johnson’s was $1.34 million and Davis’s, $1.37 million.

Calculating the qualifications and the GMP scores gave Coates 76.3; Johnson, 88.2 and Davis, 83.2, making Johnson the “best value selection.”

The committee passed a resolution authorizing the administration to negotiate with Adolph Johnson & Son to try to reach agreement on a contract. The administration will then report back to trustees’ Finance and Facilities Committee, which must approve a contract.

If an agreement on the price cannot be reached, the university may opt to move on to one of the other companies.

The veterans resource center will be on Wick Avenue at the site of the former Peck House, which was demolished.