<\/p>\n
The Cortez Fire Protection District on Wednesday unanimously agreed to hire Weeminuche Construction Authority as project contractor for its new fire station.<\/p>\n
Fire Chief Jeff Vandevoorde said during the board\u2019s monthly meeting that Weeminuche wasn\u2019t the lowest bidder, but the quality of its work was worth the price.<\/p>\n
The station will be at the site of the current building on North Washington Street. The district plans to move out of the current fire station by April 20, and has scheduled a groundbreaking ceremony for April 25.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is going to be a cornerstone building, something to be proud of,\u201d Vandevoorde said.<\/p>\n
He said the fact that WCA is based in Montezuma County and tends to hire locally swayed the board\u2019s decision to pick it over the low bidder.<\/p>\n
He said about 66 percent of Weeminuche subcontractors come from the region. The company has worked the second story of the current fire station, the Montezuma County jail and the remodel of the new Cortez City Hall. Vergil Gray, the building division manager, touted the jail project at the fire board meeting.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no additional cost on that whole project,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Board member Rodney Branson jumped on that statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou just basically went on record saying there\u2019ll be no change orders on this project,\u201d he said jokingly.<\/p>\n
Gray quickly responded that he would make \u201cno promises\u201d about change orders in the project, budgeted at just over $4 million.<\/p>\n
He said he plans to start the project as soon as Weeminuche gets a city demolition permit.<\/p>\n
Funds for the fire station will come from a $2 million grant, a $1.2 million lease-purchase agreement and $1 million from the district\u2019s tax revenue.<\/p>\n
Administrative assistant Wendy Mimiaga said she expects it to be completed under budget, even though the contract was a bit more expensive than she had hoped.<\/p>\n
The groundbreaking will be at the current fire station at 1 p.m. on April 25. It\u2019s open to the public.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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