MORGAN HILL
– Stevelle Construction of Emeryville was the low bidder to
change a never-used 43,300-square-foot building at 16200 Vineyard
Blvd. into the new Morgan Hill police station, quoting a cost of
$1,699,000. The City Council awarded the construction contract to
Stevelle at its Dec. 17 meeting.
MORGAN HILL – Stevelle Construction of Emeryville was the low bidder to change a never-used 43,300-square-foot building at 16200 Vineyard Blvd. into the new Morgan Hill police station, quoting a cost of $1,699,000. The City Council awarded the construction contract to Stevelle at its Dec. 17 meeting.
With a change order contingency of $114,000 added, the total contract came to $1,813,000. The Nicholson Co. of Campbell will manage construction and has guaranteed the $1,813,000 will not be exceeded.
The city paid $6.4 million for the empty building at 16200 Vineyard Blvd., which was largely complete except for carpet and doors. However, the department has special needs – detention cells, a secure indoor parking area for off-loading prisoners, records and evidence rooms, lockers, break, training and exercise rooms and – at last – a light-filled comfortable space for dispatchers.
The amount of the bid pales in comparison to estimates for Gilroy’s new police station. Morgan Hill’s neighbor to the south will spend $26.7 million on a nearly 49,000-square foot facility even after cuts were made to the design. The Gilroy police station, which has been scoffingly called the Taj Mahal, has been the subject of considerable controversy. It likely will be built by 2007.
Construction on the Morgan Hill facility is expected to be finished in five months, or mid-May. Total project costs are expected to be $9.45 million. Besides purchase and tenant improvement costs, the city paid $400,000 for professional services and $837,000 for furniture, equipment and other soft costs.
The improvements will be funded from police impact fees – money charged developers for each housing unit built – plus money the Redevelopment Agency recently paid the city for a vacant lot behind City Hall. The land was reserved for a new library funded by state bond money, though a library on that site is no longer a sure thing as the city is considering other land, less expensive to build on.
The police building itself will be purchased with lease revenue bonds that will be repaid from the impact fees and the general fund. Police matters are one beneficiary of sales taxes paid in Morgan Hill, along with fire protection.
The major subcontractors Stevelle listed are Lincoln Glass and Mirror (glazing); Preferred Plumbing (plumbing); ACCU Mechanical (HVAC); Bo-Tech (fire Protection); General Lighting (electrical); JML Inc. (doors and frames); Holstead Drywall (drywall).
Besides Stevelle’s, five bids were received: W.E. Lyons Construction, $1,722,000; South Bay Construction, $1,764,600; Ken Wo Construction, $1,820,000; Falk Construction, $1,950,000 and Tinney Construction, $1,999,000.
Two plans to turn the old police building at Monterey Road and West Main Avenue into a restaurant and brew pub are under review by the city. The City Council will hear the staff’s recommendation in January on which of the two proposals shows the most promise.
