The village of Brookfield finally will be able to move forward with a project to renovate the interior of the former ESDA building on the Brookfield Public Works site at 4523 Eberly Ave., although it’s still going to cost more than officials had hoped.
On Oct. 10, village trustees voted 4-0 to award a $197,666 contract to YAD Construction, which submitted the lowest of seven bids, to complete the work. The village had budgeted $150,000 for the project.
The second-lowest bid, from Blue Reef LLC, came in at $219,000, while the highest bid, from TORI Construction, was $415,000.
It was the third time the village had sought bids for the interior renovation project. The first attempt resulted in no firm bidding to do the work. In June, the village received just one bid of $370,000, which the village board formally rejected in order to seek more bids this fall.
Brookfield is familiar with YAD Construction, which is based in Chicago, because the same firm replaced the ESDA building’s roof and performed exterior repairs in 2021. That bid also came in above the village’s estimate, but it was significantly lower than bids from four other firms.
Public Works Director Carl Muell told the Landmark he had scheduled a pre-construction meeting with YAD Construction for this week and hoped to get the work started before the end of the month.
“I would like to be in the building by Thanksgiving or soon after,” Muell said in a text message.
Many years ago, the building served as the headquarters of the Brookfield Emergency Services and Disaster Agency (ESDA), which was disbanded in 2006 after 50 years. It has since served as a public works storage garage for a Vactor sewer-cleaning truck, pumps and miscellaneous water parts.
Since late 2021, Muell has wanted to make the shabby two-story interior space better serve the needs of the department’s water division. In addition to continuing to serve as the storage garage for water equipment and the Vactor truck, the building will also house an office for the water department’s foreman, an office and locker room for water department staff, a conference room, a laundry area and a handicapped-accessible restroom.
The building’s heating and air-conditioning systems will be replaced, with a ventilation system added to extract the Vactor truck’s exhaust. Work also includes adding a new electrical panel and LED lighting.
Trustees reject bids for DPW roof project
While the third time was the charm on the ESDA interior renovation project, Brookfield trustees on Oct. 10 rejected the one bid it received for a project to complete structural repairs to the metal trusses supporting the roof of the main public works building at 4545 Eberly Ave.
In 2020, the village paid about $100,000 to replace the building’s shingle roof and perform some masonry and truss repairs.
While doing that work, it became clear that the trusses were more damaged than expected. The cost to do the truss repairs was far more than the village had budgeted for the work, so they decided to bid it out as a separate project in 2022.
The only firm submitting a bid when they were due in September was Krause Construction, which proposed charging the village $217,471 for the work, which the village had estimated costing $100,000.
Officials have not yet decided whether to rebid the work this year or wait to include it in the village’s 2023 budget.
