Town hall refit

As development on the new town hall for Moorcroft's municipal government at the Moorcroft Town Center (MTC) continues, the council has separated the work into phases, allowing the town to work on aspects of each where possible, to conserve funds where available.

The planned bid packages, by phase, according to Moorcroft building inspector Jeff Holberg, include exterior siding, soffit facia, exterior entry and concrete approach, exterior doors, interior metal stud framing, mechanical heat and air conditioning, electrical, drywall and paint, interior doors and hardware, suspended ceiling, finished floors, insulation and case work.

The smaller phases are an effort to encourage smaller businesses to bid, according to the inspector.

The town had originally planned to buy the materials for each phase, saving around $80,000.

However, the general contractor, Arete Construction, has written into the contract that they will buy all materials.

Councilman Austin Smith expressed his confusion regarding this apparent discrepancy at last week's meeting: "They ran around the whole thing we tried to avoid."

Holberg explained that contractors usually buy the furnaces, etc. to ensure warranty, but the metal studs and other building supplies can be purchased by the town.

Smith asked for further clarification, saying, "Are we still sticking to our original plan? These [contracts] are binding and there's a lot of things in there I wouldn't agree to If I was bidding it."

The contractor also has determined all bids on all phases to be submitted by November 19 and Smith would rather call for the bids "when we're ready for them". He asked his fellow members if they were using the contract before them or were they going to use one specific to the town?

HDR Engineering's Justin Stark advised amending the document and striking through any unaccepted portions as the two entities negotiate a contract agreeable to both, which is common practice, but the council decided to move with the pages before them.

All Moorcroft public departments plan to relocate to the MTC in the spring/summer of 2025.