York County Jail plans exceed budget

ALFRED – Plans for a new York County Jail have hit a roadblock.

After cheering two surprisingly low bids for the new structure, commissioners discovered Thursday that the project will cost far more than its $20 million budget.

That means the commissioners will either have to redesign the jail, go back to voters for more money, or send the same project out to bid again.

“I assume we will send the commissioners back to the drawing board,” said County Administrator David Adjutant. “We will have to find some alternatives.”

Two contractors bid for the job on Wednesday. Granger Northern of Portland bid $19.1 million and Harvey Construction of Bedford, N.H., submitted a proposal for $20.6 million.

Each contractor also bid for 16 additional items, ranging from $1.6 million for a prerelease center to $2,000 for plumbing fixtures.

Some of the alternatives, including a skylight in the employee break room, are optional features. Others, such as the jail’s water supply and security cameras, are not.

When they opened the bids Wednesday, commissioners believed that the alternatives were included in the total bid. They were delighted that they could afford to build the project exactly as it had been presented to voters last year.

But on Thursday, they were informed that the bids did not include the alternatives and the full project would cost $2.8 million more than the base bid. They also have to pay $2 million to the Portland-based architecture and engineering firm that designed the jail, and $500,000 for land acquisition.

Sheriff Philip Cote said the commissioners should reject both bids and send a scaled-down jail proposal out for bid a second time.

“I think we should sit down and figure out what we can live with and what we can’t,” Cote said. “Then we could send it out again with everything included in one bid and maybe more companies will be encouraged to bid for the project.”

But Commissioner Joseph Hanslip cautioned against stripping the jail of too many features. He said the current jail has always been too small and is falling apart only 20 years after it was built because previous commissioners wanted to save money, he said.