A public hearing Monday on the build-operate-transfer (BOT) agreement between Robinson Construction and the Warsaw Redevelopment Commission for the Public Works new facility project drew no members of the public or comments.
Robinson Construction is the developer of the project.
Warsaw Community and Economic Development Director Jeremy Skinner said the 93-page agreement “is for the bond issuance for the street department facility. What we’re approving today is this BOT agreement and there are a lot of exhibits to this.”
On June 2, he said they will have a final construction schedule and the final guaranteed price. Monday’s public hearing was on the actual BOT agreement, Skinner said.
“The intent is to go to bond issuance on June 12, so we’ve got a few things to do before then, but for today it’s a public hearing on the actual BOT agreement,” he said.
Redevelopment Commission President George Clemens opened the meeting up to the public to speak on the agreement but no one came forward.
Skinner reported the legal teams of all parties involved in the agreement have reviewed it.
He ran through the project description, which he said was “probably the most important part of it. So you can see the project description, this is what we’ll negotiate the final guaranteed price for, is, roughly, total main building of 43,700 square feet. That includes general truck garage, admin. and general support area, mechanics shop, mechanics shop support areas, wash bay and wash equipment.”
Total mezzanine areas is 6,425 square feet, including administration and general support mezzanine, wash equipment mezzanine and mechanics shop support mezzanine.
Combined, the total area is 50,125 square feet.
“So that’s kind of the general scope of the project and you can see there’s a lot of other pieces of the puzzle,” Skinner stated, adding that he didn’t know if there was much else until they get the guaranteed price and the project schedule. “... There’s nothing really that shocking in this agreement. A lot of legalese.”
Commission member Joe Thallemer asked about the base bid mentioned in the BOT agreement of $10,524,955, saying he assumed that was just an estimate. There’s also a sales tax (if required) of $322,078 and the purchase of three parcels at 788, 786 and 780 W. Center St. for $663,209.
Skinner said he was correct that the figure was just an estimate. “So we have a not-to-exceed right now, it’s the not-to-exceed and that will be replaced once we get a final guaranteed price, which will be done June 2,” he said.
Thallemer asked if the guaranteed maximum price has to be approved by the Warsaw Common Council.
“It will be approved here and only here,” Skinner responded. “This is a Redevelopment-issued bond so there won’t be any council approval.”
Earlier this year, the not-to-exceed price for the Public Works building project was $14.5 million, though it was expected to come in less than that.
Thallemer asked Monday if there were any project dates in the agreement. Skinner said there will be. Monday’s public hearing was on the form of the agreement, and the agreement with the guaranteed price and project dates will be approved at the commission’s June 2 meeting.
Thallemer made the motion to approve the agreement, Councilman Mike Klondaris seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
Next, Skinner reminded the commission a couple meetings ago they approved the Union Station Lofts subrecipient agreement with OrthoWorx. He proposed they amend that agreement to include a new distribution schedule to replace the old one.
“The only thing that changes is - you have a distribution schedule in front of you - the old distribution schedule had months on it. But because the construction can vary, rather than waiting months, we’re just putting in payment schedules. So as the payment schedules come in to be reviewed and then submitted to OrthoWorx to pay out of OIRI (Orthopedic Industry Retention Initiative), it doesn’t necessarily have a month attached to it, just be a payment schedule based on” work completed, Skinner explained.
Thallemer asked who does the inspections who understands the completion of those levels of the project. Skinner said the city will be responsible to make sure the work gets completed.
The commission unanimously approved amending the Union Station Lofts subrecipient agreement with OrthoWorx, specific to the distribution schedule.
Located near the intersection of McKinley Street and Winona Avenue, the former Gatke Corp. industrial site is being transformed into a $19 million investment and is expected to activate the McKinley Street Ride-Walk corridor. Union Station Lofts is a public private partnership that includes a $4 million redevelopment tax credit from the IEDC and Northeast Indiana Regional Development Authority. Additionally, through OIRI, housed by OrthoWorx, the project will receive an additional $1.4 million in funding.
The last item on the commission’s agenda Monday was the list of claims, which were unanimously approved. They included $53.67 to NIPSCO for the former Marsh property; $950 and $1,000 to Huntington National Bank for fees associated with the Buffalo Street and Marketplace of Warsaw bonds, respectively; $111,367.40 to Milestone Contractors LP for the commission’s share of the Center Lake pier removal; and $45,994.50 to Bakertilly for the Belle Augusta RIF (Residential Infrastructure Fund) bond issuance.