Initial bids $600,000 under budget for $84 million St. Croix County government center
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
HUDSON — The initial bids for the St. Croix County government center remodeling and expansion project are $600,000 less than the estimates.
Several representatives of The Samuels Group gave updates on the project to the St. Croix County Board at the November 1 meeting.
The county board should expect ups and downs as the bids come in, so that by the time the entire project is bid out, the cost will be within the amount budgeted or, as would be hoped, less than what was budgeted, said one of the Samuels representatives.
Bid package number three is currently being reviewed by the subcontractors and includes all the site work, the building exterior, the foundation, frame, footings and roofing.
Bid package number two included the structural pre-cast for the parking area for the sheriff’s department and the judges’ parking.
Rick Ottino, county board supervisor representing the Town of Hudson, noted that the original project was $94 million, that $10 million had been taken out of the project and that the county board had approved borrowing $80 million.
How will the county pay for the other $4 million? he asked.
The $80 million is currently invested, and St. Croix County will be receiving interest earnings between $2 million and $3 million that will be put toward the government center project, said Ken Witt, county administrator.
Because of the rules surrounding arbitrage, the county cannot make more in interest earnings than the county would pay in interest for borrowing the money, he said, adding that if the county made more than would be paid in interest, the county would have the pay the difference to the federal government.
The St. Croix County Board also allocated $7 million of the county’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds into the Capital Improvements Program (CIP) fund as a contingency, so that if the government center project came in over budget, there would be resources in place to finish the project, Witt said.
Alternates amounting to $1.4 million also are included in the $84 million, which will also help with managing the budget for the project, said a representative from The Samuels Group.
Paul Adams, county board supervisor representing the City of Hudson, asked how decisions would be made on funding the alternates.
As the bids are received, a report will be given to the government center project subcommittee, and for bigger decisions, the alternates will be brought to the St. Croix County Board, Witt said.
Alternates included in the $84 million are space for a staff clinic, the tenant build-out and the south parking lot.
The government center remodeling and expansion project is expected to be completed by July of 2025.
Staff members are expected to be relocated into the new additions in July of 2024.
Bids on bid package number three for the core and shell for the north and south addition are expected this month.
Bids on bid package number four for the interior will be due in late March of 2023.
