Toccoa Commissioners Move Forward With CMAR Delivery of Toccoa Creek Project

At last week’s Toccoa City Commission meeting, commissioners unanimously approved moving forward with the Toccoa Creek Water Pollution Control Plant project, utilizing a new-to-Toccoa construction delivery system, termed a Construction Manager At Risk, or CMAR system, as opposed to the traditional design-bid-build construction project delivery system. 

With the vote to approve moving forward, commissioners also approved the selection of Reeves Young as the Construction Manager at Risk. Selection of the Construction Manager At Risk differs from the normal bid process in that both cost and bidder’s qualifications are considered, as opposed to the selection of contractor being based solely on the lowest bid.’

City Manager Fredda Wheeler explained the process.

 

In researching the CMAR delivery system, WNEG News found reports from public and private project managers, as well as universities such as Penn State, and organizations and agencies such as FEMA, the National Council of Architectural Registration Board,  the Associated General Contractors of America, and the Construction Management Association of America, who have all noted the efficiency and cost-management aspects of the system, the benefits of bringing a contractor on earlier in the project that is typically done in the traditional design-bid-build delivery model, and public-based, governmental project managers and officials especially voiced appreciation for the multiple build-in decision points where the project owner can halt the project, change the project parameters to meet budgetary constraints, or otherwise alter the scope of the project.  

Following the commissioner’s vote to approve the selection of Reeves Young to move forward with the project, Toccoa Utilities Director Harry Scott told WNEG News that the CMAR process is new to him, but one that carries significant benefits for the city.

 

The total contract price for the completed project is $16.5 million; however, it was confirmed by Scott, and by Alex Wiseman with Toccoa’s long-time consulting engineer firm Carter & Sloope, that the only cost Tuesday’s vote committed the city to is the Basic Pre-construction Services fee of $24,500. 

As stated by Wiseman, all CMAR services, and therefore financial commitments, must be authorized by the City at each contractual step, such as pre construction, procurement, or construction, before Reeves and Young initiates any work. The City will remain in full financial control of the Contract Price at each step and may authorize funds only as necessary to reach an acceptable Guaranteed Maximum Price. Only after the acceptance by the city and the CMAR of the GMP will the full contract price be authorized and the CMAR allowed to begin construction.

Weisman also noted that, once that GMP is agreed upon, if the final costs come in below the GMP, the city’s cost will drop, whereas if the cost comes in above the GMP, the CMAR is responsible for covering those costs.