An unusual process in Monroe County came to an end Tuesday, but the winner might have been the company with the best ability to draw and not the best construction experience.

Monroe Fiscal Court has awarded the bid to construct the second section of the Monroe County Family Wellness Center to J&S; Construction. J&S; Construction may be the best firm, and it may avoid some of the pratfalls that occurred with the initial segment of this project, but it doesn’t excuse the initial confusion and odd nature of the process to find a construction manager for the second section.

Instead of basing the bid on the lowest cost for building the project, Monroe County officials based their decision on a presentation that most accurately showed the firm’s graphic design skill and not its construction abilities.

When design build was first discussed even the Monroe County magistrates didn’t appear to know what the term meant. If the elected officials didn’t know what they were going to see, then how could the idea have been clearly put forth to the bidding companies. The construction companies who did presentations had to work quickly after the county went away from the idea of low bid that meets qualifications for doing the project.

Daryl Wheeler, president of Venture Management in Glasgow, has become so upset over the process he told the court they were not following proper procedures and has even threatened legal action. As someone in construction it doesn’t provide any benefit to sue a government agency that could provide work in a down economy without a real issue. The problem here is not with J&S; Construction, they simply played by the rules they were given and did so to the best of their ability.

After problems with leaks and other issues with the first building at the wellness center, it appeared some county officials were attempting to get a more detailed analysis of what different ideas were out there for the second building. Their goal was to have a better idea of what they would get for the money by seeing a more detailed plan.

It’s important with public buildings to ensure that taxpayer money is used wisely.

Whether money comes from state or federal grants or is collected from local taxes, all the money spent did come from tax dollars.

Never in this situation is it appropriate to take cost equation out of the picture and simply rely on the project’s budget. If building the best building requires all of the money set aside for the project, then it does.

Public officials looking through bid specifications allow them to control costs up front by picking the lowest and best bid. That means they pick the bid the meets the specifications for the project at the lowest cost.

If companies are handed a budget and told to prepare a proposal for what can be built within that budget, they will likely use the entire budget. Not that they shouldn’t, because it is possible — and that appears to be the case here — that is what they assume they should be proposing.

It appears the only reason the process was changed in Monroe County this time was because of the pressure that had come upon fiscal court members and judge-executive Wilbur Graves over the problems with the initial phase of the wellness center.

If the change in the way the fiscal court decides how public buildings will be let to be built in Monroe County was to lessen the heat on them, it was done for the wrong reason. If those county officials believe the proposal process will lead to better buildings in the future for the money spent, then they made the change for the right reasons.

Hopefully, when all is built and seen, J&S; delivers a wellness center for which all Monroe Countians are proud.