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"Contracts, Work Changes Approved for Arena Project"
"By George NelsonYOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- The city's Board of Control Thursday approved contracts for furnishings and computer equipment and services at the Youngstown Convocation Center under construction downtown.The board approved paying up to $135,000 to James & Weaver Office Environments, Youngstown, for office furnishings for the convocation center. The proposal submitted by the company totaled just under that amount, $130,388.40.Under the contract, James & Weaver would supply furniture for 21 offices in the arena, including two coach's offices, an equipment office and staff offices, said Mayor George McKelvey. Included in the agreement are furnishings for four dressing rooms and two green rooms.The board also approved the $18,078 bid submitted by Higgins Online Inc., Struthers, to supply and install computer equipment for the facility. The bid price includes one Dell PowerEdge 2800 server at $6,700 and two Dell Latitude D610 laptops for $3,250 each.In her recommendation letter to the Board of Control, Barbara E. Wiggins, director of facility and services for the convocation center, noted that Neo3 L.L.C., Canfield, submitted a $6,500 bid that only covered server setup and installation, laptop setup, existing system migration and installation of network, with the company advising the center to purchase its own equipment separately. Prizm Electronics Inc., Boardman, submitted the third bid, in the amount of $31,015.45. McKelvey said the computer equipment would be integrated between the convocation center's current offices in the Wick Building and the center until the facility is up to full operational capacity.The board -- made up of McKelvey, Law Director Iris Guglicello and Finance Director David Bozanich -- also approved a series of change orders reflecting additions to or reductions for work on the convocation center. These items included: a reduction of $46,960 in the amount paid to Comm Steel, Cleveland; items for an additional $33,000, $3,516, $25,904, $180,621 and $95,784 for Ohio Steel Industries, Columbus; a $5,150 reduction for Lencyk Masonry, Youngstown, plus separate items for an additional $7,302 and $19,692 for the company; an increase of $12,586 for Sidley Precast Group, Youngstown; a $115,386 reduction for VEC Systems, Girard; a $32,320 reduction for Komar Plumbing, Boardman; and a $12,000 reduction for D&G Mechanical, West Middlesex, Pa.The additions were the result of design changes that required additional work, McKelvey said, and that the city was not paying more for what was originally bid. The reductions in contracts resulted from value engineering and the ability to purchase materials through state agreements to reduce costs, the mayor added, crediting Carmen Conglose, deputy director of public works, for his work on the project. The ongoing value engineering process provides an opportunity for the construction mangers, the architect and the contractor to review the scope of work and the materials used, and determine if there are any changes in materials or equipment used that can be made so that scope of work can be more cost effective, Conglose said."Value engineering works both ways," he added, referring to the increases in the structural steel contract with Ohio Steel. "We want to make sure, and our architects and engineers want to make sure, they not only build something cost effectively but they also build it properly and without cutting any corners."In structural steel specifically, he continued, the process of building the frame of a building like the convocation center is that the architect and the structural engineer produce the general plan. Then the contractor's task is to take that general plan and detail it through production of what's called the fabrication drawing. "Through this process it was determined some items needed to be added to the structural steel to make everything fit together properly," Conglose explained. "It's like a puzzle and it's a very detailed puzzle. ... It's not an uncommon process in a building of this size.""