Commissioners approve Dayspring generator engineering contract after fee discrepancy clarified

The Richland County Board of Commissioners voted to approve an engineering contract to design a new generator that will serve the county wastewater treatment plant and about half of the Dayspring main building.

Unidentified Speaker 1 introduced the item and Unidentified Speaker 2 told commissioners the contract had been approved in principle at the Dec. 22 meeting but required additional work before signing. Commissioners asked for clarification after they noticed the contract’s fixed-fee line items totaled $14,002.50 while the contract printed a $14,200 fixed fee. Unidentified Speaker 2 explained the difference resulted from an added engineering study to document loads on the county’s two generators so the team could rebalance high-power equipment across units.

Unidentified Speaker 4 clarified the parties’ intent: the fixed fee was intended to read $14,250, with additional hourly services capped at $6,500. After that clarification, Unidentified Speaker 3 moved to approve the contract; a second was recorded and affirmative responses were registered by those present. Josh Hicks, Dayspring’s maintenance supervisor, had no additional comments.

The board’s action allows the county to finalize the contract and proceed with the preliminary design, bidding and construction assistance phases. The record contains a typographical discrepancy between the printed fixed-fee number and the line-item total; commissioners recorded the corrected intention at the meeting.