West Monroe Goes Forward on Indoor Sports Complex | Local / state titles

West Monroe Mayor Staci Mitchell and local architect Tim Brandon, who is responsible for the design of the proposed facility, announced the decision Tuesday at the regular West Monroe board meeting.

Since early 2020, Mitchell has continued the indoor sports arena project to boost the local economy through increased tourism through major sporting events like basketball, volleyball and more.

Often, government entities undertake public works projects above a certain amount by paying an architect to design the project and announcing the construction of the project for public tenders. For Mitchell’s indoor sports arena, city officials have agreed to take advantage of a recent state law for “Hazardous Construction Management,” or CMAR.

“It’s a method of project delivery. The contractor works with the designer to keep the project within budget. said Brandon, with TBA Studios, a West Monroe architectural firm, before referring to Lincoln Builders.

“We have just completed a very large CMAR project with the contractor who will come on board and work. “

Mitchell pointed out that a committee was responsible for selecting Lincoln Builders as the contractor for the project.

After the meeting, the city’s chief financial officer, Scott Olvey, told the Ouachita Citizen that the committee included Mitchell’s chief of staff Courtney Hornsby; City Councilor Thom Hamilton; Jordan Guillot, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Discover Monroe-West Monroe; Ben Bledsoe, with Bledsoe Architects in Shreveport; and Richard Harris, president of McInnis Brothers Construction Inc. in Shreveport.

According to Olvey, there were five entrepreneurs to consider. The candidacy of an Alabama contractor did not arrive on time and could not be legally considered, he said. Ratcliff Construction Company in Alexandria applied but then withdrew, Olvey said.

That left three companies vying for the project: Lincoln Builders, Don Barron Contractor Inc. of Farmerville and Boggs & Poole Contracting Group in Bossier City, Olvey said.

CMAR’s public works process includes the review of applications by qualified CMAR contractors. A CMAR contractor is expected to provide a guaranteed maximum price before final design plans are completed.

“They came one after the other on Friday and gave a 45-minute presentation,” Olvey said. “Committee members pre-scored each candidate based on their candidacy, which is roughly 75% of their score. They scored the remaining 25 percent based on presentation. The entrepreneur was selected with the highest score.

Lincoln Builders is expected to receive a fee of $ 58,000 during the design or pre-construction phase and will negotiate an agreement with the city to build the proposed facility for a certain price, according to Olvey.

“It’s a really good way to tackle these complicated and expensive projects,” Olvey said.

Olvey noted that state approval is not required for a CMAR project estimated at $ 15 million or more.

The council of aldermen could not approve the selection by the Lincoln Builders committee on Tuesday because the order was not yet complete, according to West Monroe attorney Doug Caldwell, who is the town’s legal advisor. .

“We hadn’t prepared the order,” Caldwell said. “It will probably happen in two weeks. We thought we could have all the information now, but we couldn’t put it together. “

The site of the proposed facility is on city property between Interstate 20 and Home2Suites and Hampton Inn.

Last month, the State Bonds Commission approved the city’s request to take out $ 17 million in bond debt while Discover Monroe-West Monroe (formerly known as the local convention and visitors bureau) committed $ 6 million to the project.

Mitchell said part of the bonded debt would be used for renovations at the Ike Hamilton Expo Center.

On another front, Mitchell paid tribute to two members of the West Monroe Fire and Police Civil Service Board who recently retired from the board: Margaret McKee and Larry Head.

In light of the vacancies, the Aldermen Council has agreed to appoint Dexter Davis Sr. and West Monroe lawyer Lydia Holland Baugh to the Public Service Council for terms ending August 29, 2024.

Mitchell said she approached Davis to sit on the board and was delighted he took it on.

“I think it’s great,” Davis told the Ouachita Citizen. “I thank the mayor for taking the time to think about me. I can’t wait to see what it is.

Davis had previously qualified as a candidate for the aldermen’s council in 2018, although his campaign failed in an election involving five open competitions.

Since then, the city has entered into an agreement with the United States Department of Justice to create three single-member districts in the city as well as two individual seats on the council of aldermen. The Justice Department took legal action against the city because having five open competitions for the council of aldermen disadvantaged black applicants in a predominantly white city.

Davis told the newspaper the Justice Department contacted and interviewed him while the government prepared its case against the city. According to Davis, he had no serious objections or strong opinions on the issue he felt compelled to share with the government during these talks.

As for future campaigns for the aldermen council, Davis said he was happy to focus on learning about his role as a member of the civil service council.

In other cases, the council of aldermen approved a new map that slightly adjusted the city’s three single-member districts based on data from the 2020 census.

“There was just a little bit of variance,” Mitchell said. “The lines have been moved from a street here or there.”

In December, the city is to send letters to all registered voters informing them of the single-member districts in which they live.

After voting to approve Baugh’s appointment to the Civil Service Council, Hamilton said, “Thank you for agreeing to serve. “

After the meeting, Baugh said she was excited to have the opportunity to get more involved in the city.

“I don’t have any political aspirations, but I think it’s a great way to give back to the city I’ve lived my whole life,” Baugh said.

After the votes on Davis and Baugh’s appointments to the Public Service Council were completed, Mitchell said, “Thank you both very much.”