While we continue to be skeptical of Green County government's ability to limit the cost of a new justice center, the county took an important step Monday toward relieving that skepticism.
The Green County Ad Hoc Justice Center Property Committee trimmed about $491,000 from the justice center construction budget Monday.
The committee's goal was to reduce the cost of the justice center construction to $10.9 million, the amount previously approved by the county board. J.P. Cullen, a construction firm from Janesville, submitted a winning bid of $11.273 million, forcing the county to pay the larger amount or cut costs to meet its approved budget.
The county chose to do the latter, and should be lauded for doing the dirty work Monday to get to $10.9 million.
The committee cut $130,000 from the furniture budget and $10,000 from the demolition of the ag building, while also increasing the amount it expects the city of Monroe to kick in for site preparation by $10,000.
Ron Locast of building architect Potter Lawson said after he talked to Cullen representatives, they came up with the list of possible items to eliminate from the project that wouldn't hurt the look or quality of the building.
More importantly, it would bring the construction costs to $10.9 million.
The committee will update the entire county board at its August meeting.
The board still has credibility to regain. Last summer, the $8.5 million project that was approved after public debate ballooned to a projected $12.6 million to make room for more county offices.
The board and its committee must remain resolute the project comes in at - or, better yet, under - budget. Board supervisors must not settle for the construction bid to end up being a dime more than $10.9 million (as ridiculous as that sounds).
County taxpayers must not accept higher costs simply for the sake of moving forward. Taxpayers' dollars being spent are significant, and there should be an expectation that the elected officials treat them accordingly.
The Green County Ad Hoc Justice Center Property Committee trimmed about $491,000 from the justice center construction budget Monday.
The committee's goal was to reduce the cost of the justice center construction to $10.9 million, the amount previously approved by the county board. J.P. Cullen, a construction firm from Janesville, submitted a winning bid of $11.273 million, forcing the county to pay the larger amount or cut costs to meet its approved budget.
The county chose to do the latter, and should be lauded for doing the dirty work Monday to get to $10.9 million.
The committee cut $130,000 from the furniture budget and $10,000 from the demolition of the ag building, while also increasing the amount it expects the city of Monroe to kick in for site preparation by $10,000.
Ron Locast of building architect Potter Lawson said after he talked to Cullen representatives, they came up with the list of possible items to eliminate from the project that wouldn't hurt the look or quality of the building.
More importantly, it would bring the construction costs to $10.9 million.
The committee will update the entire county board at its August meeting.
The board still has credibility to regain. Last summer, the $8.5 million project that was approved after public debate ballooned to a projected $12.6 million to make room for more county offices.
The board and its committee must remain resolute the project comes in at - or, better yet, under - budget. Board supervisors must not settle for the construction bid to end up being a dime more than $10.9 million (as ridiculous as that sounds).
County taxpayers must not accept higher costs simply for the sake of moving forward. Taxpayers' dollars being spent are significant, and there should be an expectation that the elected officials treat them accordingly.
