Stephanie Effken

    The Seward County Board of Commissioners interviewed their final architect in the running for the new jail project.
     Al Povondra, principal with Carlson West Povondra, made a presentation in regards to fees and expenses for the project, one of the board's major concerns.
     Povondra proposed an initial payment of zero upon execution of the agreement. Upon execution of phase one there would be a pre-design service fee of $6,850. Phase one includes a conceptual design and conceptual cost estimation.
     If a decision is made to move to phase two and the proper funding is in place the firm and the county will move to phase two of site selection and a master plan. The phases are numbered to six, six being the occupancy phase.
     There will also be a need of additional consultants for the project including a topographic land surveyor and geotechnical engineers. Their services will be marked up and billed to the architect one and one-quarter percent.
     Phase two also brings about reimbursable expenses including mileage at 45 cents per mile plus a bundling credit and a reproduction/printing fee at $150 a month. Both are marked up 10 percent by the architect.
     Coming from Omaha, Povondra said the mileage might be approximately $70 to $80 a month and the overall expenditure fee could be approximately $300 to $400 a month.
     The firm will also provide assistance for the bond issue and will be involved in three attempts for funding promotion.
     Beyond the cost of construction and the reimbursable expenses the firm includes a contingency cost and the county needs to plan for outside cost. These costs would include hazardous material investigation, removal/abatement and erosion control design, observation and testing.
     In the state of Nebraska, the EPA is required to visit a construction site after a certain amount of rainfall and monitor the erosion, a service and fee not provided through the architect.
     Though no exact fee can be announced for the project because much is yet to be determined, Povondra said he is willing to work with the board to keep costs down.
     The commissioners hope to make a decision on an architect by the end of February.