April 17, 2008

SDCCD BOND CONSTRUCTION BIDS YIELD $4.5 MILLION IN SAVINGS TO SAN DIEGO TAXPAYERS

The San Diego Community College District Board of Trustees approved acceptance of bids on two bond construction projects today netting cost savings for the taxpayers of San Diego of approximately $4,500,000.

The City College P-Building renovation project came in at $6,780,000 with the Jaynes Corporation, the responsive low bidder. This was approximately $500,000 below the estimated construction value.

The other project, the Mesa College Allied Health Building, is a Construction Management Multiple Prime (CMMP) project. The cumulative total of the 21 divisions of construction that were bid came in approximately $4,000,000 less that the estimated construction value of approximately $20,000,000. Successful bidders were A1 Fire Protection, Artimex Iron, C T Georgiou, Centaur General, Centex Glazing, Challenger Sheetmetal, Commercial & Industrial Roofing, E F Brady, Johnson, Barnes & Finch (two separate contracts), Klaser Tile, Mountain Movers, New Dimensions Masonry, Peltzer Plumbing, Saddleback Waterproofing, SCS Flooring, Sierra Landscape, Soltek Pacific, Southland Electric, Spooners Woodworks, Stuart Engineering, and Westwind Mechanical.

The district's chancellor, Dr. Constance Carroll, was enthusiastic about the multiple prime approach. "This is one of several options to streamline and expedite our contracting process that we have recently implemented in our bond construction program to achieve substantial cost-savings," she said. The Black Contractor's Consortium played a key role in assuring the participation of small and minority-owned subcontractors in the local area.

These numbers appear to be an indication of a very aggressive bidding climate in a slumping construction market. This contrasts with bidding conditions during prior times of economic expansion and rising costs for land and construction materials. According to Dave Umstot, Vice Chancellor for Facilities Management, "We are fortunate to have approximately $100,000,000 in construction contracts to award during this competitive pricing environment. This should translate into significant savings that can be utilized elsewhere in our bond construction program."

Board Chairman Marty Block observed, "This good news is the latest in a string of bond construction program achievements that speak to the district's careful stewardship of the public's money." The acceptance of these bids follows the District's first Silver LEED Certification for energy efficient construction, the San Diego County Taxpayers Association's (SDTA) report card of county-wide K-14 construction bond programs in which the San Diego Community College District earned a perfect rating, and the AA+ bond rating by Standard and Poor's (the highest rating ever awarded to a California community college district).