Plans for prison facility to be reworked, rebid

Bill Gang

Thursday, Aug. 20, 1998 | 10:37 a.m.

Under the best of circumstances, it appears the first phase of a planned 10,000-bed prison city at Indian Springs can't be constructed with the money that's available.

So on Wednesday District Judge Sally Loehrer ordered the Nevada Public Works Board to re-open bidding on the phase that was supposed to provide housing for 4,250 inmates.

The state apparently will have to go back to the drawing board and down-size the project that was estimated to cost $82 million but didn't draw a bid lower than $97.2 million.

Loehrer ruled that since the project was destined to be substantially changed, it is necessary to give all interested construction companies a new opportunity to ensure the "integrity of the bidding process."

The low bid came from Sletten Construction Co. The state had intended to negotiate with the firm to reach an affordable resolution, but Loehrer concluded that is not permitted under Nevada law.

State law permits negotiated changes in construction specifications only if the low bid is within 10 percent of the cost estimated by public works officials.

In addition, testimony at a brief hearing Wednesday indicated there is only $85 million available in state coffers. That refuted statements by Richard Knapp, design chief for the Public Works Board, that anticipated upgrades at the prison would have bumped up the $82 million to $88.7 million -- permitting negotiations under the 10 percent rule.

Loehrer, however, ruled that fudging the numbers would have cast a shadow over the bidding process and the proper thing to do is re-open the bidding process.

The first phase is to include a core facility that would provide cooking facilities and utilities such as heating and sewage disposal for 3,000 inmates.

Two square miles of land near the current Southern Desert Correctional Center, 40 miles northwest of Las Vegas on U.S. 95, will be the site for the Cold Creek State Prison complex. Three 3,000-bed medium security units are planned in addition to a 1,000-bed maximum security facility.

Testimony Wednesday indicated the money problems may reduce the capacity by up to 20 percent.

Wednesday's hearing was conducted as the result of a lawsuit filed by Clark and Sullivan Constructors Inc. and Quality Mechanical Contractors Inc., which were seeking an injunction to keep Sletten from winning the contract.

Clark and Sullivan had submitted a $101.7 million bid, the third lowest.