Sturgis City Commission on Dec. 10 approved final design for Sturgis Electric Center, at a cost of just over $499,000, along with a contingency budget of $50,000.
In April, a bid for the design for the electric utilities building in Sturgis was awarded to Ghafari Associates.
Total project design cost included in the proposal was $581,440.
City commissioners approved working with Ghafari on the schematic design of the building for an amount not to exceed $100,000.
Schematic design is complete, according to Chris McArthur, superintendent of the electric department.
At the Nov. 24 meeting, staff was advised to move forward with the final design of the building as proposed during schematic development.
The next phase includes design development, geotechnical and topographic surveys, construction documents, bidding and construction administration, McArthur told commissioners. In the initial proposal, cost for those aspects total $486,965.
In addition to the original proposal amount for this phase, Ghafari is requesting $12,500 for work to “on-board” a construction manager and split the bidding process.
To keep expense as low as possible, the strategy is to bring a construction manager into the fold early in the process and to provide separate bid packages for the shell of the building, HVAC equipment, generator, site and foundations, McArthur said. That could save the city markup by the construction contractor.
There is $1.5 million in the fiscal year capital budget for construction of Sturgis Electric Center.
Staff recommended contingency for the design process at approximately 10% of cost.
Friday, December 19, 2025
