News > CEO’s Message – April 2024

CEO’s Message – April 2024

Board Approves Construction of New Operations Center and Headquarters Facility

At a special Board meeting on April 2, 2024 the Stearns Electric Board of Directors unanimously approved the construction of a new Operations Center and Headquarters Facility in Melrose. Stearns Electric made the official announcement at its 87th Annual Meeting on April 4, 2024. 

BIDDING PROCESS 

Requests for project bids for the new operations center and headquarters facility were posted on March 5 on open building exchanges in our region. Bids for each of the 24 bid packages were due on Thursday, March 21. We received 127 bids for the project. Contractors provided solid and, in almost all cases, lower than anticipated bids. 

Bids were opened March 22, initiating a robust qualification review and interview process of the bidding contractors. Construction Manager W Gohman and architect GLTArchitects, along with the Board facilities committee and Cooperative staff, reviewed the bids in-depth and determined the lowest qualified and responsible bid for each package. 

Recommendations were shared with the full Board at the meeting on April 2. After much discussion and several questions for the architect and construction manager, Board members voted to officially move forward with the construction of the new operations center and headquarters facility. 

WHAT WE KNOW 

The total cost of the new facility is $21.5 million. We expect excavation to start on May 6, 2024 and the construction window is anticipated to last approximately 14 months. 

Approximately 90% of contractors on this project are local, which we have defined as located between St. Cloud and Alexandria. 

In order to start construction on the new facility, we knew the existing pole shed needed to be removed, so bids for that building were open in the same timeframe as the headquarters project. We received multiple bids for the pole shed. On April 3, we officially signed paperwork to sell the pole shed to the highest qualified and responsible bidder. The pole shed will be completely removed from its existing location by its new owner by the end of April. 

OPEN HOUSE 

Stearns Electric will host an open house at our existing office, 900 Kraft Drive SE, Melrose, on Thursday, May 23. All member-consumers and interested community members are invited to join us from 8-10 a.m. or 4-6 p.m. to learn more about the new operations center and headquarters facility. 

MORE INFORMATION 

We have created a page on our website where important information regarding the new facility is posted. Please visit stearnselectric.org/melrose-facility for complete details. 

Discussion about our Melrose headquarters began in 2019. We explored several different options to meet our Cooperative’s needs both now and for the future. The decision to build a new operations center represents an important investment in our long-term ability to continue providing high-quality, reliable electric service. 

We will continue to provide you with relevant updates on this project in future issues of Power Connection and on our website. If you have any questions, please call the Cooperative during normal business hours. 

Sincerely,

Matt O’Shea
Chief Executive Officer