Waupaca Common Council approves design firm
By Robert Cloud
The Waupaca Common Council took another step closer to building a new Public Works facility.
Council members voted unanimously to hire Milwaukee-based Barrientos Design and Consulting to spearhead the project.
Public Works Director Justin Berrens explained the project at the June 16 council meeting.
Berrens said the city conducted a facility needs study in 1999, which found that the Parks and Recreation building, the police station and the Public Works buildings needed improvements or replacement.
Currently, the Public Works Department operates out of five buildings throughout the central and east side of the city. The average age of the buildings is more than 50 years old.
Waupaca had studied moving Public Works into existing building, such as the old county highway department facility.
“That did not prove to be a good fit for us,” Berrens said.
The city plans to locate the new facility on eight acres of buildable land at Haberkorn Field, which it purchased from the Waupaca School District in 2017.
Berrens said the city plans to build a 40,000-square-foot facility.
Costs for the new facility are budgeted at $6.5 million for construction in 2023; $375,000 for design completion and site preparation in 2022; and $255,000 for design and planning in 2021.
The new facility will house all of the Public Works Department except the wastewater department, which will remain at the treatment plant on South Oborn Street.
Norman Barrientos, the design firm’s president, said the new facility will provide space for parking all Public Works equipment, storage for parts and materials, fueling for vehicles, a repair garage, truck wash, sign shop, painting shop, map room, lunch room, locker rooms, space for training and offices for administrative and engineering staff.
Barrientos Design will be responsible for all architectural and engineering services, site and utilities plans, cost estimating, planning and permitting, bidding and construction management.
The firm will also hire the subcontractors that oversee demolition of existing structures on the parcel, asbestos abatement, property surveys and geotechnical exploration.
“We will access the full range of sustainable or green opportunities,” Barrientos said, noting that the firm is not going for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, but will do a return on investment analysis of sustainable options for the facility.
Reviewing proposals
The city received five proposals for designing the facility.
The bids ranged in cost from the highest at $486,570 from GRAEF to $252,500 from Gries Architectural Group.
Although Barrientos Design’s proposal came in at $323,125, this firm committed 3,457 hours to the project, while Gries committed 1,980 hours.
“We felt something would be missed,” Berrens said regarding Gries’ proposal.
Members of the committee reviewing the proposals also visited municipal facilities built by Barrientos and spoke with their clients.