Saline Gets One Bidder For Rec Center Roof, Awards, $1.2 Million Project

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Saline City Council voted to spend up to $1,223,350 to fix the failing Saline Rec Center roof.

Council awarded the contracts to CEI Michigan, who provided one of two bids opened at city hall June 22. The other company which bid on the project was disqualified for not providing the proper bid documents.

Gary Mays is owner of Mays Consulting, hired by the city to determine the problem, recommend repairs and help with the bidding process. Mays said contractors are so booked they don’t have time. Mays said CEI Michigan has a good reputation. Typically, the business does $20 million of business a year. Right now, they’ve booked $12 million, giving Mays confidence they have the resources to complete the work.

Members of council were concerned by having just one bid, but council expressed confidence in Mays Consulting. Mayor Brian Marl sought some reassurance for himself and council from Mays.

“I’m always a little troubled by having just one qualified bid. Mr. Mays, you have a pretty sterling reputation. We’re talking about a significant investment in financial resources on an important project. You feel pretty confident that CEI will do a pretty good job for us,” Marl said.

Mays said he was confident.

“They have a very good reputation. The University of Michigan recommends them very highly, along with many other people we contacted. So, I don’t see any reason they couldn’t do the job for you on this project,” Mays said.

CEI Michigan’s bid on the main portion of the project was 4.1 percent higher than the city estimated but within the range expected. The main portion of the project is replacing the membrane roof and metal wall panel. Another part of the project includes installation of a rubber roofing membrane that comes with a 30-year warranty for $49,600.

Answering a question from Councillor Janet Dillon, Mays said he expected the roof’s life expectancy to outlive the 30-year warranty. He estimated it could last 45 to 50 years.

Mays said all of the materials are from Carlisle, the warranty covers the entire roofing system.

“It’s a full-system warranty that covers all their product. So we will have a full 30-year warranty in place. That’s the best you’re going to get in the industry,” Mays said.

Dillon asked if the warranty would be guaranteed if Carlisle went out of business.

Mays said Carlisle was a $4 billion company that had been in business since the 1950s or 1960s.

Answering a question from Councillor Heidi McClelland, Mays said his firm would have someone on site during construction making sure the work met expectations.

Councillor Christen Mitchell noted that one reason why the roof failed is because the builder didn’t have experience with rec centers housing indoor pools. Mitchell asked Mays if CEI Michigan has experience with this kind of project.

Mays said CEI has experience with all types of roofs, but said he didn’t know specifically if CEI had done a project like the Rec Center.

Answering a question from Councillor Dean Girbach, Mays outlined the timeframe for starting construction.

“As soon as we get approval to move forward, we’re going to push to get it moving. I would hope it would be fairly soon,” Mays said. “We’re probably looking at a three-week turnaround.

The work should not impact the Rec Center operations much. The center will remain open and fully-functional.

The city plans to bond for $1,550,308 for the center. Attorney Scott Smith said the price of the bonds was 2.43 percent.

CEI did not bid on the painting job. Parks and Rec Director Carla Scruggs said she’d like to wait until spring, when the project is done, to go out for bids on painting the Rec Center.

Five different roofing companies took part in a walk-through at the Rec Center during a pre-bid meeting. Nine bid packets were sent out to other companies by Mays Consulting.

Council voted unanimously to award the contract to CEI Michigan, which is based in Whitmore Lake.

 

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