Commissioners Accept Lowest Bid On Fire Alarm System

April 27, 2022 at 2:54 a.m.
Commissioners Accept Lowest Bid On Fire Alarm System
Commissioners Accept Lowest Bid On Fire Alarm System


The lowest bid for replacing the fire alarm system at the Kosciusko County Justice Building was increased by over $5,000, but the County Commissioners accepted it Tuesday as it was still the lowest of the two bids.

Bids for the system were opened at the Commissioners’ April 12 meeting and taken under advisement. They included $89,748 from Koorsen Fire & Security, Fort Wayne, and $176,586 from Priority One, Fort Wayne.

On Tuesday, County Administrator Marsha McSherry said she had D & D Electric come in as a consultant and do a walkthrough with Koorsen “just to see what may have been missing and verify” their bid. They did find there were three or four “small” things missing from their RFP (request for proposal), so Koorsen added an additional $5,600 to their original bid.

Based on that, McSherry recommended the Commissioners go with Koorsen for the replacement of the Justice Building fire alarm system for a total of $95,384.

Commissioner Brad Jackson asked if Koorsen has done a lot of similar work. McSherry said Koorsen was working with Fulton and Wabash counties and has a good reputation in that field. Jackson made a motion to approve the Koorsen bid, Commissioner Bob Conley seconded it and it was approved 3-0.

McSherry then presented a quote from Masonry Solutions for an amount not to exceed $22,000 to repair some of the damage of the third floor and damage in the surveyor’s office on the main floor of the county courthouse.

She said she solicited three different vendors for the work but one vendor was sold to the other vendor and she didn’t get a response back from them. That left Masonry Solutions, which has done work for the county before, as the only vendor.

The Commissioners approved the quote.

The county’s liability insurance is due to be renewed May 8 and McSherry invited Mike Hall, of W.R. Hall Insurance Group, to present the renewal information to the Commissioners.

Hall said W.R. Hall handles the property casualty and workers compensation lines for the county.

“We put it out to market and what we have come back with - an overall increase of 10.4%. Most of that increase is due to payroll increases from the workers compensation standpoint, so we’re truly in line with estimates,” he said. “Excluding (where) cyber liability coverage falls, the cyber liability has seen a higher increase due to the market conditions and current exposures throughout basically the world. That is our proposal to the county (for) property casualty and workers compensation.”

Commissioner Cary Groninger said they tried to bid the insurance out to get some good prices, but with the county being involved in highways and law enforcement, “those are classifications that are not too desirable for insurance.”

The cost to the county for the insurance for 2022-23 is $785,434.

In other business, the Commissioners:

• Approved an ordinance from Kosciusko County Highway Superintendent Steve Moriarty to reduce the speed limit from 55 to 30 mph on CR 1250N from Jeremy Drive to CR 100E. Currently, the town of Milford has a 30 mph speed limit and it connects to the county’s 55 mph speed limit. Moriarty said they want to slow vehicles down before they get to the curve. He said they worked with the town on this and the speed limit reduction was his recommendation.

• Proclaimed May as Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month with American Bikers Aimed Toward Education (ABATE) representative Jerry Ganger and Secretary Chery Ganger present. Conley read the proclamation that included the benefits of motorcycle.

The lowest bid for replacing the fire alarm system at the Kosciusko County Justice Building was increased by over $5,000, but the County Commissioners accepted it Tuesday as it was still the lowest of the two bids.

Bids for the system were opened at the Commissioners’ April 12 meeting and taken under advisement. They included $89,748 from Koorsen Fire & Security, Fort Wayne, and $176,586 from Priority One, Fort Wayne.

On Tuesday, County Administrator Marsha McSherry said she had D & D Electric come in as a consultant and do a walkthrough with Koorsen “just to see what may have been missing and verify” their bid. They did find there were three or four “small” things missing from their RFP (request for proposal), so Koorsen added an additional $5,600 to their original bid.

Based on that, McSherry recommended the Commissioners go with Koorsen for the replacement of the Justice Building fire alarm system for a total of $95,384.

Commissioner Brad Jackson asked if Koorsen has done a lot of similar work. McSherry said Koorsen was working with Fulton and Wabash counties and has a good reputation in that field. Jackson made a motion to approve the Koorsen bid, Commissioner Bob Conley seconded it and it was approved 3-0.

McSherry then presented a quote from Masonry Solutions for an amount not to exceed $22,000 to repair some of the damage of the third floor and damage in the surveyor’s office on the main floor of the county courthouse.

She said she solicited three different vendors for the work but one vendor was sold to the other vendor and she didn’t get a response back from them. That left Masonry Solutions, which has done work for the county before, as the only vendor.

The Commissioners approved the quote.

The county’s liability insurance is due to be renewed May 8 and McSherry invited Mike Hall, of W.R. Hall Insurance Group, to present the renewal information to the Commissioners.

Hall said W.R. Hall handles the property casualty and workers compensation lines for the county.

“We put it out to market and what we have come back with - an overall increase of 10.4%. Most of that increase is due to payroll increases from the workers compensation standpoint, so we’re truly in line with estimates,” he said. “Excluding (where) cyber liability coverage falls, the cyber liability has seen a higher increase due to the market conditions and current exposures throughout basically the world. That is our proposal to the county (for) property casualty and workers compensation.”

Commissioner Cary Groninger said they tried to bid the insurance out to get some good prices, but with the county being involved in highways and law enforcement, “those are classifications that are not too desirable for insurance.”

The cost to the county for the insurance for 2022-23 is $785,434.

In other business, the Commissioners:

• Approved an ordinance from Kosciusko County Highway Superintendent Steve Moriarty to reduce the speed limit from 55 to 30 mph on CR 1250N from Jeremy Drive to CR 100E. Currently, the town of Milford has a 30 mph speed limit and it connects to the county’s 55 mph speed limit. Moriarty said they want to slow vehicles down before they get to the curve. He said they worked with the town on this and the speed limit reduction was his recommendation.

• Proclaimed May as Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month with American Bikers Aimed Toward Education (ABATE) representative Jerry Ganger and Secretary Chery Ganger present. Conley read the proclamation that included the benefits of motorcycle.

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