(County Engineer Joel Sikkema — Community First Broadcasting Staff Photo)
Orange City, Iowa (Sioux County Radio) — The Sioux County Board of Supervisors has awarded a $6.03 million construction contract for a new secondary roads maintenance shop south of Boyden.
Supervisors awarded the contract Tuesday for Peska Construction, Inc. of Sioux Falls, the apparent low base bidder, contingent on final review by County Engineer Joel Sikkema. The board previously approved plans and specifications for the shop on June 30th, setting the bid letting for July 28th.
Bids Show Competitive Field
Twelve contractors submitted base bids. Peska’s $6.03 million offer came in $169,911 below the second-lowest bid of $6,199,911 from Graves Construction Company. L&L Builders submitted the third-lowest bid at $6.364 million.
Eleven of the 12 bids fell between $6.03 million and $6.564 million, placing them within $534,000 of Peska’s offer. The highest bid came from Sentry LLC at $7,163,439.55 — more than $1.13 million above the apparent low bid.
The $6.03 million base bid includes three features the county could remove through deduct alternates:
- a rainwater-harvesting system for washing vehicles
- a cover for the salt-storage building
- concrete work for the salt-storage bunker
Peska listed deductions of $297,622, $57,380, and $66,562 for those respective items. The board did not select any deduct alternates during Tuesday’s meeting.
Completion Expected in Fall 2027
The construction schedule will become clearer after the contract has undergone final review and been signed. Sikkema said the contractor will have some flexibility in determining when work begins, but the project carries a substantial-completion deadline.
Sikkema said the construction bids came in well below the county’s estimate. However, the $6.03 million bid should not be directly compared with the previously discussed $8.7 million all-in estimate, which included land purchase, professional fees, construction, equipment, and furnishings. He says the county can now update its full project estimate with the construction bid known.
