The Bureau of Reclamation announced today that it has reached an agreement with the surety—Berkley Insurance Company—to complete the Grand Coulee Fire Station project. Berkley selected J.S. Held LLC to coordinate the project efforts with National Native American Construction, Inc., who was selected to complete the project. The mobilization date is unknown but is expected in the coming weeks. The construction schedule is yet to be determined; however, Reclamation anticipates that the project will take from 12 to 18 months to complete.
Reclamation terminated the fire station contract with Innovative Construction and Design, a small business located in Post Falls, Idaho, in February 2021. This is the second termination Reclamation has executed for the contract. The U.S. government includes terms in its contracts that protect against financial losses in cases where the awarded contractor does not meet its contractual obligations. This protection is provided via performance bonds issued by a second party surety. Reclamation opened negotiations with ICD’s surety to negotiate a mutually agreeable solution to bring the contract to completion.
The construction contract was originally awarded in 2016 for $13,633,650.00 with a period of performance end date of April 30, 2018. The contract was terminated in March 2019. The initial termination was rescinded by agreement between Reclamation and the surety, in favor of allowing an approved third-party contractor to take over the project. Ultimately, the third-party contractor was unsuccessful, which resulted in the second termination in February 2021. The current contract price is $14,242,563.32.
The 22,000-square-foot fire station will provide space for vehicle and equipment storage along with separate crew areas for sleeping and dining, meeting/training rooms, offices, and a public reception area. Once completed, the new facility will ensure reliable protection for all Reclamation facilities and lands and assist local communities and other agencies through mutual aid agreements. The site of the new fire station is located at the west gate to the Grand Coulee Power Office industrial area near the intersection of Highway 155 and B Street.
Grand Coulee Dam was completed in 1941 and is located on the Columbia River about 90 miles northwest of Spokane. It serves as a multipurpose facility that provides water for irrigation, hydroelectric power production, flood control, fish and wildlife conservation, and recreation.
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