GREENFIELD — An Alabama contractor claims his business hasn’t been given a fair shot to bid on the new Hancock County Jail, but the construction manager in charge of the job says the type of equipment the contractor uses doesn’t fit the project’s specifications.
As a way to try and persuade Hancock County officials to allow Cornerstone Construction to bid, representatives with the company drove about six hours from northern Alabama this week, hauling modular jail cell replicas on a semitrailer. They showcased the detention cells Thursday afternoon in the Walmart parking lot and invited county leaders and the project’s architect and contractor to inspect the design.
Heath Claborn, vice president of business development for Cornerstone, said he doesn’t think the bidding process for much of the county jail project has enough competition of subcontractors. He suggested the county could pay more than necessary without multiple bids. Claborn, who reached out to county officials a week or so ago about the bids, called the project a “rigged-up deal.”
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The county plans to break ground this fall on a 440-bed jail, planned on 20 acres of county-owned land north of U.S. 40 between County Roads 400E and 500E. Estimated cost of the jail is $43 million.
Representatives with Garmong Construction Services, the construction manager for the jail, and RQAW, the firm that designed the facility, both showed up to Cornerstone’s presentation Thursday afternoon.
Claborn said he has an issue with how the project’s bid documents, which have been released and updated over the past month online in anticipation of an Aug. 29 bid due date, are written. The documents list prequalified contractors for each element of construction. Claborn said although that’s not uncommon in construction bidding, some sections of the project have only one prequalified contractor, which he said doesn’t allow for much competitive bidding.
For detention equipment contractors, the documents list only Pauly Jail Building Co., based in Noblesville; and U.S. Security Systems Inc. of Montgomery, Alabama. Claborn said Cornerstone, which builds jails across the United States and in other countries — including facilities in North Carolina, California and Ontario, Canada — is as qualified to handle the work as the other two companies.
The president of Pauly Jail Building Co., Joseph Pohrer III, and the CEO, Robert Pohrer, each donated $1,000 to Marc Huber’s campaign for county commissioner in 2018, according to campaign finance documents. Huber previously told the Daily Reporter he met Joseph Pohrer at a commissioner conference and struck up a conversation about the county jail project.
Pauly Jail has also built jails in several states, including Florida, North Dakota and Missouri.
The documents also list Steel Cell of North America, from Baldwin, Georgia, as the only prequalified modular cell manufacturer that can bid on that section of the project. Cornerstone purchases detention cells through Maximum Security Systems Inc., which oversees the cell construction by Alabama-based Liberty Steel. Claborn said those modular cells, which he put on display Thursday afternoon, are comparable to those manufactured by Steel Cell. They mostly differ in the type of paint and size of the steel.
Claborn claims the specifications in the bidding documents were written with certain subcontractors in mind. Cornerstone hasn’t cracked the Indiana jail construction market yet, and Claborn said he’s well-aware of the potential for dozens of new jails built across the state due to criminal code changes and overcrowding. Claborn said he hopes those future construction projects remain competitive.
Indiana Code allows construction manager as constructors — Garmong’s role in the project — to “prequalify potential bidders based on written criteria established and published by the public agency.” Paul Okeson, executive vice president of Garmong, said RQAW took the lead on prequlifying subcontractors based on the design specifications.
Okeson said Cornerstone submitted a prequalification application, but he said the company didn’t meet the specifications of the project. Construction managers are financially liable for their subcontractors, Okeson said, so he doesn’t want to accept a bid from a company that doesn’t fit their qualifications.
If a subcontractor that isn’t prequalified submits a bid, Okeson said Garmong would immediately reject the proposal.
Garmong, RQAW and Pauly Jail recently teamed up to expand jails in Greene County and Posey County. Okeson said it’s common for construction managers to have one subcontractor for parts of large projects, as long as they follow Indiana Code to “award the contract … to the lowest responsible and responsive bidder.” Okeson said Pauly Jail and Steel Cell build quality products.
Okeson said if Cornerstone wanted to meet the prequalification standards for the project, it could’ve adjusted the product to fit the parameters county officials and RQAW developed. Claborn said Cornerstone could change its product, but he said their standard detention cell design is much better.
If Hancock County officials want to change the specifications of the project to allow Cornerstone to bid, it might mean a redesign of the jail and extra costs to the county, Okeson said.
That doesn’t seem like it’ll happen with less than a week before bids are due.
John Jessup, president of the Hancock County Board of Commissioners, said he trusts RQAW’s design specifications. The county has also agreed to pay RQAW $3.36 million for the project.
Jessup, who has visited several jails with Steel Cell products, called the Cornerstone cells “inferior.” He said Garmong isn’t excluding Cornerstone to lessen the competition; their cells don’t match up to the quality the county wants.
On Thursday afternoon, a county correctional officer jumped on one of the tables mounted to the wall inside the cell on display, and it didn’t seem as durable as Steel Cell products, said Hancock County Jail Commander Keith Oliver. He said the metal isn’t as thick and the paint seemed to rust easily.
Since the county has agreed to pay millions of dollars to build a new jail, Oliver said he wants products that can last 30 to 40 years, rather than purchasing cheaper products with more maintenance costs.
Only two jails in Indiana that have been built over the past two decades haven’t used Steel Cell modular cells, Okeson said. Oliver said he’s toured one of those county jails, in Daviess County, and employees there showed how the cells, built by Maximum Security Systems, rusted after 10 years.
Claborn said those cells were installed about 15 years ago, and the company has improved its product over that time. The Maximum Security System cells have a 10-year warranty, Claborn added.
Bill Bolander, president of the Hancock County Council, and Martha Vail, a county councilwoman, both said they, too, weren’t impressed with Cornerstone’s presentation. They’ve toured about five other jails built with Steel Cell, and they liked that product more.
Vail said she would like to see the price differential between Cornerstone and Maximum Security Systems and the prequalified contractors; however, she’s unsure if the Cornerstone could meet the set specifications before bids are due next Thursday. Vail speculates Cornerstone might provide a cheaper bid, but that might not be better than a higher-priced quality product.
