Ellis County received four bids for the Courthouse/Law Enforcement Center Project when the bids opened last week.

The four base bids were all in the $5.5 million rage with the addition of two alternates, MW Builders of Overland Park submitted the lowest bid of $7.02 million.

County Administrator Greg Sund said he believes the first two alternates, remodeling the first and second floors of the courthouse and remodeling the sheriff’s office, are the highest priority of the alternates.

According to Sund’s memo to the commission, Architect Andrew Pitts from Treanor Architects will present the commission with the bid tabulations at their September 2 meeting.

Sund said the estimated cost of the project is $8.5 million.

He said that will cover the costs of architect fees and a contingency fund that will cover any unforeseen problems that might occur.