FARMINGTON — Franklin County commissioners will ask architectural firms to estimate how much a set of blueprints for the dispatch center would cost.

If it’s $10,000 or more, architect services would need to go to bid.

On Tuesday, commissioners asked the county clerk and the building committee to come up with a letter requesting proposals from three to five firms.

County residents approved a $598,300 bond for construction of a dispatch center by a vote of 2,062 to 2,035.

Commission Chairman Gary McGrane of Jay said Tuesday that after the vote he made overtures for a recount but called state authorities and found out commissioners cannot request a vote recount.

“The vote is what it is,” he said.

McGrane said he had no problem moving forward on the project.

“Let’s get going,” he said.

Smith Reuter Lull Architects of Lewiston and Bethel have worked with the county for about four years on projects, including the dispatch center. Architect Stephanie Lull has been the most recent contact for the Dispatch Building Committee and drew up a floor plan to present to voters for the June 12 referendum.

Commissioners and county Clerk Julie Magoon said they don’t know how much an architect would charge for a blueprint. They have a rough idea of an estimate of the cost of engineering and architecture services but don’t know how much each is individually.

Commissioner Fred Hardy of New Sharon said he had a little problem of changing architects, since the firm has worked with them for so long. They only did what the commissioners requested them to do, he said.

Building Committee member and county custodian Greg Roux, a retired construction contractor, said he didn’t believe an ethical architecture firm would use the architect work that has been done and would want to do its own design.

McGrane said he believed other architects would be able to use the county’s conceptual floor plan to draft blueprints that could be used in soliciting bids for construction.

Building Committee Chairman Stan Wheeler said they need to move on the project, because it will make a difference in construction time.

The principal cost of the project cannot exceed $598,300 for the stand-alone, 2,200-square-foot center. A 15-year bond would have an approximate interest rate of 3.81 percent, and the cost would be $189,479.76. The total debt service for the project is estimated at $787,779.76.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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