CLEARFIELD – On Wednesday afternoon, the Clearfield County Commissioners awarded the bids for the Gray Building renovation projects.
On March 23, they opened base bids for building renovations. They received 26 total bids that were shared among the seven construction projects.
Further, they received seven bids for the electrical, five for the general construction and four bids each for both the telecommunication and HVAC construction. They lastly received three bids for plumbing, two for fire protection and one for elevator construction.
“I believe that the bids are competitive and in line with our estimate. The low bidders have successfully completed previous projects of this size and nature,” said Jerry Bankovich, Jr., of KTH Architects.
Bankovich recommended they accept the low bids as indicated in his proposal. In concurrence, the commissioners awarded:
– J C Orr and Sons, Inc., of Altoona, the general construction project with the base bid at $844,661;
– Otis Elevator, of Pittsburgh, the elevator construction project with the base bid at $104,290;
– Eber HVAC, Inc., of Johnstown, the HVAC construction project with a base bid at $272,600;
– Baer Services, Inc., of Johnstown, the plumbing construction project with a base bid at $147,800;
– SA Comunale Co., Inc., of Barberton, OH, the fire protection construction project with a base bid at $44,170;
– DuFour, Inc., of Osceola Mills, the electrical construction project with the base bid at $294,000; and
– Morocco Electric, Inc., of Somerset, the telecommunication construction project with the base bid at $51,890 and an alternate bid at $3,600.
Bankovich called the commissioners’ attention to the bids for both the electrical and telecommunication construction projects.
For electrical, he said the low bidder was Bruce’s Electric. He said, however, the bid submission was deficient. He recommended they award the bid to DuFour, Inc. as the second lowest.
He also pointed out the telecommunication construction bid had an alternate. He said it was for changing the specified cabling to the latest technology available.
“This is usually a large increase in cost, which is why we bid it as an alternate. As it turns out, we believe that this is a very good price,” Bankovich said.
By accepting the alternate bid, Bankovich said it made the low bidder Morocco Electric, Inc. over Mashan, Inc., of Home. Mashan, Inc. had submitted a base bid of $51,205.
Commissioner Mark McCracken said they’re pleased with the bids. He said they were competitive and fell within the budget.
“They fall in line with budgeting, which is key to this project,” he said.
According to a prior report, the county purchased the Gray Building for $183,000 with plans to relocate offices into the same from the Multi-Service Center. At a February meeting, Bankovich gave a presentation, stating a study had been done in 2000 on the Multi-Service Center building.
He said the study indicated the Multi-Service Center was among the worse county buildings. At the time of the study, he said they estimated it would cost $2 million over a 10-year period for maintenance and upkeep of the building. To build a comparable structure, he said it would cost the county $5 million.
“Ultimately, the Gray building was the best option,” said Bankovich at the February meeting. “The building itself is basically a shell.” He continued, stating that the building is structurally sound.
Bankovich said the building’s first floor would house the Clearfield County Commissioners’ offices, County Election’s office, Veteran’s Affairs office and Controller’s office and the Clearfield County Planning Department. He said the second floor would house Clearfield County Children, Youth and Family Services.
