REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
January 27, 2026
FROM
MOE YOUSIF, Interim Director, Project and Facilities Management Department
SUBJECT
Title
Change Order to Contract with Swinerton Builders, Inc., and Amendment to Construction Management Contract with Griffin Structures, Inc. for the Valley Communication Center Project
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
1. Approve Change Order No. 3 to Contract No. 23-527 with Swinerton Builders, Inc., increasing the contract amount by $930,098.19, from $98,764,670.30 to $99,694,768.49, and extending the contract completion date from December 1, 2025, to January 28, 2026, for additional work on the Valley Communication Center Project located at 153 South Lena Road in San Bernardino (Four votes required).
2. Approve Amendment No. 1 to Contract No. 21-493, with Griffin Structures, Inc., effective June 22, 2021 for additional scope of work already performed, increasing the not to exceed amount by $292,000, from $4,067,500 to $4,359,500, and exercising both options to extend the contract term by two years, for a total contract period of June 22, 2021, to February 28, 2027, for the Valley Communication Center Project located at 153 South Lena Road in San Bernardino.
(Presenter: Moe Yousif, Interim Director, 387-5000)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Improve County Government Operations.
Operate in a Fiscally Responsible and Business-Like Manner.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this item will not result in the use of Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost) or additional costs to the project budget. The Valley Communication Center Project (Project) (WBSE 10.10.0181) has a total budget of $125,582,384, primarily funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and Discretionary General Funding. In accordance with the United States Department of the Treasury’s ARPA Final Rule, $106,012,906 of the total Project budget has been obligated. The Project was approved by the Board of Supervisors (Board) as part of the 2025-26 Capital Improvement Program Budget on June 10, 2025 (Item No. 136).
The total Project budget includes $601,017 cumulatively from the Office of Emergency Services (OES), Sheriff/Coroner/Public Administrator (Sheriff), and Consolidated Fire Agencies (CONFIRE), which is included within the existing Project budget as approved by the Board on October 21, 2025 (Item No. 34).
The Project is comprised of the following components:
|
Description |
Amount |
|
Construction |
$93,937,537.00 |
|
Construction Contingencies |
$6,508,380.51 |
|
Electronic Systems and Special Equipment |
$10,350,000.00 |
|
Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment |
$6,369,267.00 |
|
Department Moving Expenses and Utility Connections |
$425,000.00 |
|
Special Inspections, Environmental and Soil Testing |
$665,050.00 |
|
Project Management and Inspection Fees |
$1,287,000.00 |
|
Bridging Documents and Construction Management Services |
$4,094,500.00 |
|
Change Order No. 1 to Contract 23-527 |
$86,996.00 |
|
Change Order No. 2 to Contract 23-527 |
$636,555.30 |
|
Change Order No. 3 to Contract 23-527 |
$930,098.19 |
|
Amendment No. 1 to Contract 21-493 |
$292,000.00 |
|
Total Project Budget |
$125,582,384.00 |
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
San Bernardino County (County) is constructing a new facility known as the Valley Communication Center, located at 153 South Lena Road in San Bernardino. The Project is a new three-story, 75,085 gross square foot building, 200-foot-tall communication tower on the 6.85-acre site that will include all associated onsite and offsite improvements. The completed Project will be the new mission-critical facility that must be operational 24 hours per day, 365 days per year, under extreme conditions, as the primary Emergency Operations Center and a potential health agency in the San Bernardino Valley.
The building will be occupied by the Sheriff, OES, San Bernardino County Fire Protection District (SBCFPD), CONFIRE, Inland Counties Emergency Medical Agency (ICEMA), Innovation and Technology Department (ITD), and the Project and Facilities Management Department (PFMD). The facility will be capable of self-support and self-sufficiency over an extended duration of time and act as a stand-alone facility in the event of a disaster. The desired operational model requires significant facility enhancements that include utility, base isolation, and technological system redundancies to facilitate continual operations.
On June 22, 2021 (Item No. 82), the Board awarded Griffin Structures, Inc. (Griffin) a professional services contract, Contract No. 21-493, in an amount not-to-exceed $4,067,500, for preconstruction and construction management services for the Project. As part of their services, Griffin was required to create full bridging documents for the Project and also provide full construction management services throughout construction, including schedule and cost controls and facilitate closeout compliance for the Project. The contract had an expiration date of February 28, 2025, with the option to extend for an additional two one-year periods.
On June 13, 2023 (Item No. 57), as the result of Request for Proposals No. ANE221-ANE2C-4778, the Board awarded a design build agreement No. 23-527 to Swinerton Builders, Inc., in the amount of $98,041,119 for the Project.
On April 8, 2025, the Director of PFMD executed Change Order No. 1 to Design-Build Agreement No. 23-527, increasing the total contract by $86,996, from $98,041,119 to $98,128,115, with no change to the contract term of 852 days. Change Order No. 1 added space heater boilers into the build, which provide additional reliability, procured time-lapse photography of the construction, and completed the sewer main line protection standards on Lena Road, as required by the City of San Bernardino.
On October 7, 2025 (Item No. 24), the Board approved Change Order No. 2 to Design-Build Agreement No. 23-527, increasing the total contract by $636,555.30, from $98,128,115, to $98,764,670.30, with no change to the contract term of 852 days. Change Order No. 2 revised the layout of the level one area with installation of additional doors and card readers, deleted a connection to the Sheriff dispatch floor on level three, and revised the floor layouts of the CONFIRE administrative offices on level three. This item also allowed additional scope of work, including the installation of additional situational awareness monitors, power, data connections, and card readers; extended the warranty for the Daikin chillers from the standard one-year to five-years; revised the building fire alarm system; and included design efforts for OES to consider revisions to the office floor.
On October 21, 2025 (Item No. 34), the Board approved a budget adjustment increasing the total Project budget by $601,017, from $124,981,367, to $125,582,384, with no change to the contract term of 852 days. For the purchase of equipment and supplies not included in the original scope of work.
Approval of Change Order No. 3 will increase the contract by $930,098.19 by, allowing the County to implement Southern California Edison’s (SCE) revised utility power design, providing service from Lena Road instead of Rialto Avenue, including new and revised conduit runs, a relocated transformer, additional equipment and pull boxes, and secondary feeders to the building’s main switchgear, which were required due to SCE revisions related to the building’s seismic isolation requirements.
This Change Order also provides for enhanced security improvements at partitions separating the public lobby from secure areas and at designated door openings. In addition, it includes the labor, materials, equipment, and design services required to install additional data cabling and related infrastructure beyond the original design. The expanded scope includes the following:
• Selective ceiling demolition and rework to install acoustic absorption
• Selective ceiling demolition and rework to install structural support for suspended equipment
• Electrical and low-voltage rework to install additional power outlets and structured cables for the CONFIRE Dispatch Consoles and Training Consoles, as well as the cardio exercise equipment
• Additional construction labor and associated equipment costs
• Equipment rental
The work is being performed in response to department requests and includes additional design services to accommodate CONFIRE’s expanded information technology scope resulting from the addition of Dispatch Consoles, as well as OES’s requested reconfiguration of the second-floor Administrative and Emergency Operations Center areas. Design revisions include modifications to Levels 1 and 3, installation of additional card readers and electrical outlets, wall-mounted displays, revised data drop and furniture layouts within the CONFIRE Dispatch Training Room, and relocation of an existing video wall.
Approval of Amendment No. 1 to Contract No. 21-493, will compensate Griffin for the resources utilized to address additional construction management services due to a variety of delays to the project schedule which extended the project closeout completion date beyond February 28, 2025. Griffin absorbed the costs associated with the delays and is now seeking compensation to cover those costs. Amendment No. 1 will also exercise both one-year options to extend the contract term by two years, for a total contract period of June 22, 2021, to February 28, 2027, to ensure Griffin remains on the Project until its closeout as originally intended.
The unanticipated additional costs in Change Order No. 3 are related to activities that took place after the competitive bid process that resulted in the original contract award to Swinerton Builders, Inc. Therefore, no additional procurement activities are required.
Public Contract Code section 20136 requires all change orders to construction contracts to be approved by a two-thirds votes’ approval of the Board.
PROCUREMENT
Not applicable.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Kaleigh Ragon, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on December 15, 2025; Sheriff (Jose Torres, Administrative Manager, 387-3465) on December 19, 2025; Purchasing (Ariel Gill, Supervising Buyer, 387-2070) on December 15, 2025; Project and Facilities Management (Rob Gilliam, Chief of Project Management, 387-5115) on December 22, 2025; and County Finance and Administration (Yael Verduzco, Principal Administrative Analyst, 387-5285) on January 26, 2026.