FRESNO COUNTY – The Fresno County Board of Supervisors officially put an end to two long overdue projects when it awarded a contract to Harris Construction, Co. to build libraries in Reedley and Clovis simultaneously.
Approved on Oct. 8, the $37 million project is considered as one project, with $24 million earmarked for Clovis and $13 million for Reedley. Fresno County Public Works and Planning Director Steven E. White told the Board his department was doing everything to expedite the project.
“I’ve had spirited discussions with Board members,” said White. “We are not committed to one library over the other. I will begin discussions with Harris this afternoon. The goal is to put this in front of you (Board) on the fifth of November.”
By “this,” White meant a finalized contract without changes. “It’s a very, very aggressive schedule,” he said.
Construction at both locations is estimated to begin in January 2025. For Board Chairman and Clovis resident Nathan Magsig, the decision was a long time coming.
“Clovis has been waiting for a new library since 2001,” he said. “This makes me very happy to see this day is here. It almost seemed like we would never get to this day.”
Magsig was quick to note that both cities are equally important to the county.
“I am confident we can deliver both (libraries) within weeks, if not days, of each other,” he said. “Reedley is not less important nor more important than Clovis. We have two cities that are very important to Fresno County.”
Supervisor Buddy Mendes, whose district includes Reedley, was quick to point out Reedley has been waiting just as long as Clovis for its library.
In an interview with the Times, Reedley City Manager Nicole Zieba echoed Mendes. “This has been long in the works,” said Zieba.
Zieba said, initially, the county was going to do all the design and architectural work. As such, the county solicited input from Reedley community members on what they wanted for the library.
“They (county) met with Friends of Reedley library a couple of times,” said Zieba. “They had a survey out for a while for the entire community, and then they did a public workshop on the site of the new library where they rolled out renderings based on what they had heard in the survey. They asked for further input on those renderings and made changes based on that input.”
Unfortunately, Zieba said when the county solicited bids on the project – following the traditional Design-Bid-Build process – the bids it received were too expensive.
“They canceled that process and went back out to bid as a Design-Build process with both the Clovis and Reedley libraries,” she said. “So, I hope they use the initial public input as the starting point for the new Design-Build contract.”
The new Reedley Library will be a 14,000-square-foot, single-story building located at 1813 11th St.
DESIGN-BUILD
Erin Haagenson is a program manager for Fresno County Public Works and Planning. Haagenson presented the Board with the department’s recommendation for the project. She said this was the county’s first Design-Build contract and explained the difference between this method and the more traditional Design-Bid-Build method.
“This was our first Design-Build procurement,” said Haagenson. “You contract with the design entity (builder) for design and construction. Normally, you would hire a consultant first or design in-house and then award the contract to the lowest bidder. With Design-Build, we can negotiate the design and the construction.”
Haagenson said the project was advertised as the “best value” procurement; meaning, the contract would not be awarded for the lowest bid but would be awarded for the overall best value to the county.
In a Sept. 27, 2024 letter to the Board, White listed the three companies the selection committee chose as the three “best value” finalists for the project. The committee received nine bids. Harris’ bid was $34,454,610. Soltek Pacific Construction Co. submitted a bid of $34,852,000. Zumwalt Construction, Inc. bid for the project at $29,101,247.
In his letter, White said the selection committee, which consisted of members from the Fresno County Library, the County Administrative Officer’s office, and the Capital Projects division, selected Harris based on a number of factors, including clarity of proposal, interview performance, architectural design approach and familiarity with the requirements of Design-Build projects.
