UI seeks approval for tornado damage repair emergency contract
The request, which will go before the state Board of Regents, comes after a March 31 tornado damaged a IIHR Hydroscience and Engineering building belonging to the UI’s College of Engineering.
Bob Olson looks at the ground while helping sister-in-law Nancy Roselund cleanup her property in Hills, Iowa on Saturday, April 1, 2023 after a tornado went through parts of the town on Friday. The tornado impacted a new development in the city of 902 people.
April 17, 2023
The University of Iowa is seeking the state Board of Regents’s approval to start the process to renovate a university building in Coralville that was damaged by a tornado in March.
If passed, the regents would ratify regents Executive Director Mark Braun’s emergency contracting authorization regarding tornado damage repair.
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The emergency contract surrounds damage sustained in Coralville on March 31. The UI College of Engineering Hydroscience and Engineering buildings were included in the damage, which is along 2421 James St.
Repairs will include the replacement of one large metal building, including its HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and specialized research equipment and complex river modeling systems according to documents from the regents’ Property and Facilities Committee.
Braun’s ability to authorize emergency contracts stems from section 2 of the Iowa Code §262.34. The code states emergency procedures for repair, reconstruction, and restoration of a public improvement can be instituted under circumstances where delay would cause loss or injury to a regent-controlled institution.
After the emergency contract is authorized, the Iowa Code requires a separate action from the regents to approve the employed emergency procedures.
The request will go before the regents at its meeting on Wednesday.