A subcontractor who attended a pre-bid meeting for the upgrade in LED lighting at three of the county’s buildings alleges information provided was inaccurate.
In October, the Marshall County commissioners approved the signature of a contract with Telemon Energy Corporation in order to upgrade to LED lighting in the Marshall County Building, Marshall County Courthouse and the engineering buildings. The cost was $72,500, but with the NIPSCO rebate it would be about $64,200.
Jim Griewank, owner of J&M Services, said in the pre-bid meeting Telemon Energy reportedly provided the wrong number of lights and fixtures that need to be updated. The upgrades that have already been done were noted in the meeting, yet still included on the bid sheet.
He said he will back out of the bidding process because he says the numbers are inaccurate to provide a stable bid. He added that he feels that Telemon Energy officials did not do this intentionally, but thought it should be researched a little more before bidding should continue. Griewank suspects there would be several change orders produced if it moves forward with the specifications provided.
Bids are due today (Tuesday, Dec. 4) at noon.
Commissioner Mike Delp said he’d call the company to ask about the situation.
Delp commented, “Certainly they’ve done enough projects other places. I called Plymouth Community Schools where they did 40,000 bulbs there and Dave Schoof [Maintenance Director, Plymouth Community School Corporation] couldn’t have been happier with what happened there. I’m sure it’s hard to know every nuance in every room in every building, or whatever. I’m assuming they’ve got that covered with however that needs to be done. I don’t see how we can get involved with their bidding process. We’ve already signed the contract with them to move this forward.”
If needed, change orders would have to be considered, but Delp insists that the savings will still be realized.
“Based on the counts they gave us after the rebates in 24 months we were going to pay for it. After that, it is all savings. So, if there is a change order, all that’s going to do is increase that savings to us with the extra bulbs that have to be done.”
The county hopes to realize at least $30,000 in savings following the project.
A contract for the project is expected to be discussed at the commissioners’ next meeting on Monday, Dec. 17.
