Commissioners choose architect for new EMS building

At the top of the agenda at this week’s Bonner County commission meeting, officials were asked to approve a contract for architectural services to design and develop a construction plan for a new EMS building.

A request for qualifications was initiated late last year with four firms responding in regards to the proposed building, which will be built at 1314 Ontario.

“After reviewing the qualifications of several firms, the engineering department recommends that Bonner County retain H2A Architects for the services outlined,” Spencer Ferguson, Bonner County staff engineer, told commissioners. “This firm met all our requirements for completing the job.”

The amount of the request was $295,500 with $200,000 coming from the capital construction budget with the remainder to be paid by EMS unanticipated revenue. In answer to an audience question, Ferguson said that the existing building on that property will be taken down and an over 8,000-square-foot, two-story building will be constructed.

According to the RFQ, available at the county’s website, this building will not only serve as offices, storage, first responder’s living quarters and apparatus bay but will also have the coroner’s office, exam and cooler rooms. Offices will also house the solid waste, weeds, facilities and recreation departments.

Resident Kevin Moore asked if the $295,500 included construction. The answer was no. He said that it was surprising that $300,000 in this day and age didn’t buy much.

“When you look at an EMS facility it’s not like building a house,” Commissioner Dan McDonald said. “There are certain specific requirements because of the classification type on the building that have to be attained plus we have to deal with the city of Sandpoint.”

Commissioner Jeff Connolly said that he had a similar reaction to Moore’s at first. “But after talking to Spencer about it and looking at the others around it’s in line. We’d like to put more into the building and less into the engineer, but it doesn’t work that way.”

Moore followed up by saying that with the architect costing almost $300,000 he expected that the cost of building would be around a half million dollars or more. McDonald affirmed that the final cost of the building would exceed the $500,000 mark.

Ferguson pointed out that this bid includes more than just the architectural work. It also includes engineering, building oversight and project documents which McDonald then called “the whole ball of wax.” As for time frame, Connolly said that they would like to see the building completed in the next eighteen months if possible. After this discussion, the commissioners voted unanimously to approve the request.

In other business the commissioners also approved transferring $200 to the Noxious Weeds Departments’ petty cash which drew a laugh from those in attendance. The contract for the Road and Bridge department for purchasing magnesium chloride for dust abatement for the sum of just under $495,000 was also approved.

There will not be a county commission meeting next week as officials will be in a training session. The next meeting will be Tuesday, May 11 at 9 a.m.