Whitley County names construction manager for jail expansion and approves architect contract with legal contingencies

The Whitley County Fiscal Court voted to award the construction-manager contract for a proposed detention-center expansion to Codell Construction and to approve an architect services agreement with DLZ Kentucky Inc., subject to specified legal changes recommended by the county attorney.

During discussion, some magistrates asked that the construction-manager award be made subject to formal project approval; the court recorded the award to Codell Construction and approved the motion by roll call. County Attorney Bob Hammons reviewed the DLZ AIA contract and recommended three specific changes: (1) remove mandatory binding arbitration and provide that dispute resolution be decided by a court of competent jurisdiction; (2) require the architect’s insurance certificate to name the county as a certificate holder and as an additional insured; and (3) make the contract approval contingent on project approval. The attorney told the court he had discussed the changes with the architect’s representative and that the architect agreed to the changes; he recommended approval subject to those revisions.

The attorney summarized the arbitration concern, saying he typically does not recommend binding arbitration for county contracts and recommended the judicial forum for disputes. He also said the insurance exhibit originally did not name the county as an additional insured or certificate holder; the requested change is intended to protect county interests.

The court approved the architect contract with the attorney’s contingencies and approved the construction-manager award to Codell Construction by roll call. Chair noted the architect engagement was a professional-services agreement (not a bid item) and justified the selection based on an existing successful relationship.

Relevant quotes from the hearing: County Attorney Bob Hammons said, "I never recommend that" (referring to mandatory arbitration) and recommended that dispute resolution be by a court of competent jurisdiction; he also listed the insurance and project-approval contingencies he recommended.

What’s next: Implementation requires final contract language reflecting the attorney’s contingencies and any external approvals tied to state funding for the jail expansion project. The court recorded no dissenting roll-call votes in the transcript.

Sources: County attorney’s contract review and the court’s roll-call approvals recorded in the meeting transcript. Ending: Contract approvals will move to administrative execution once final language reflects the contingencies.