Just how much ORB Management will be involved in the Grand Marais Library addition remains to be seen.
The consulting company is being retained in various ways to help the county board wade through the capital improvement projects to be funded by revenue from the 1% sales and use tax that began last spring. Its role in the library project was discussed at a county board work session Tuesday, March 15.
Also at the table were representatives of the library, the City of Grand Marais, ORB Management and DSGW Architects, the firm that drafted the architectural plans.
Owner’s rep or construction manager?
The county board talked at length about how ORB might help with the project. Wade Cole of ORB offered two options: ORB could be either an owner’s representative that would oversee the project, making sure budgets, schedules, and paperwork were on track, or a construction manager, which would do those things plus be onsite and oversee the work of individual trade contractors.
Hiring ORB to be a construction manager would be the greater cost, Rob Barse of ORB said, but this would increase the likelihood that local contractors would be hired. If an outside general contractor were hired, they would be likely to bring in their own trades people from outside the county.
Architect John Geisler said he thought having an onsite construction manager that wouldn’t also be slinging a hammer might not be worth the money. His firm has a good database of construction contractors and suppliers on the North Shore, he said. With architectural plans, budget, and schedule mostly in place already, his office has been preparing bid documents for a general contractor.
“This is taxpayer money,” Commissioner Jim Johnson said, “and we want to use it as wisely as possible.” Hiring a construction manager would help them get the most for their money, he said.
Commissioner Fritz Sobanja wondered how well ORB would work with DSGW. “Beautifully!” said Geisler, although his firm has never worked with a construction manager on a project this small.
City Administrator Mike Roth indicated he wasn’t convinced a construction manager would save the county money, but it would get the county some things it seems to want: quality workmanship and lower operating costs. ORB would look for energy efficient heating systems, for example, although the larger space will require heating more square footage and cleaning more bathrooms.
Whose project is it?
How the 1% revenue is spent is in the county’s hands. The City of Grand Marais owns the library building. Both the city and the county share the cost of operating the library. Whose project would this be?
The county board’s application process for 1% money calls for the property owners to manage the projects themselves, County Attorney Tim Scannell said. Five of the seven specific projects outlined in the legislation authorizing the tax, however, would involve properties the county either owns or manages jointly or could be heavily involved in coordinating, such as the Community Center building and outdoor recreation facilities (owned by the county), Superior National at Lutsen golf course (owned by the EDA, which is a partnership between the City of Grand Marais and the county), and potential broadband and biomass projects.
City Administrator Mike Roth said he thought that since the county wants to use ORB, the county should manage the project and enter the contract agreement with ORB. Managing the project could be “really awkward” for the city, he said, if the construction manager were representing the county.
Wade Cole said his firm would represent the city as though it were the client if the county hired ORB to oversee the project. Attorney Scannell recommended that ORB not represent anyone other than the county.
Hiring locally
Commissioner Bruce Martinson wondered if it would be legal for the bidding documents to call for 20% of the labor and construction materials to come from local sources. Attorney Scannell said they could put it into a contract, but he did not support the idea.
Wade Cole said he could envision the possibility of local trades people partnering on bids, such as a plumber and an HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) contractor. He thought coming up with the low bid might be difficult for firms coming from outside the county.
Architect Geisler said his firm has been involved in a large construction project initiated by the Park Service and Grand Portage in which local contractors were hired for much of the work.
The plan
Orb staff will put together some figures on what it would cost to hire the firm to be an owner’s rep and what it would cost to hire the firm to be the construction manager on the library addition. They will present those figures at the March 22 county board meeting.
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