Commissioner seek firm to ercet building
The Fayette County commissioners took action Tuesday to seek a firm to handle construction and related activities connected to erecting a new building for the Emergency Management Agency at the Connellsville Airport. The commissioners voted to place on Thursday’s agenda a motion to send out a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the EMA building project. The RFP will seek someone, such as an engineer, to handle the project from start to finish.
The action was taken despite a request from Roy “Barney” Shipley, director of the county Emergency Management Agency, to simply advertise for bids for a pre-engineered, one-story building. Shipley said he had previously spoken to engineer Robert W. Sleighter of Sleighter Engineering Inc. of Lemont Furnace about the pre-bid specifications.
Shipley said Sleighter has offered a very reasonable fee that would be funded with money raised by the EMA.
Although Commissioner Ronald M. Nehls said the building project doesn’t need more than an engineer and an agreement seemed to be worked out with EMA officials and an engineer to provide specifications, the other two commissioners opted to put out an RFP.
Commissioner Sean M. Cavanagh said he wanted to make sure the county has recourse since the building is going to cost between $200,000 and $250,000 of county funds. Commissioner Vincent A. Vicites made the motion to send out an RFP for an engineer from start to finish. Cavanagh seconded the motion and it was approved unanimously.
Shipley said the garage-style building will be used to hold equipment and for monthly training in a small training room. He said the building will measure 60 by 100 feet and will be larger than the current building the EMA is using. An old, single-bay hangar is serving the needs of the EMA currently. The new building will be located beside the current building.
Vicites said the building is a “standard cookie-cutter-type thing.” Shipley said he can handle finalizing the specifications for the RFP, although doing that will push the project back a couple of weeks.
Shipley said he anticipates the building could be completed in a couple months.
Later in the meeting, the commissioners declined to move forward with hiring a county engineering firm.
The county hires engineers on a project-by-project basis. The county earlier sent out an RFP for engineering services. Although Cavanagh said he was prepared to vote on the issue, Nehls said he was comfortable with handling issues the way they have been handled and didn’t want to vote for a county engineer.
Vicites said he wasn’t familiar with all the firms and wasn’t prepared to vote. County Manager Warren Hughes said Fayette Engineering has a contract through 2004 for inspecting the county bridges.
The commissioners were informed about the status of another building project at the Connellsville Airport site. Plans are to construct an intermodal transportation hub at the airport as headquarters for FACT (Fayette Area Coordinated Transportation.)
Michelle Shumar, director of the county’s Human Services department and head of FACT, said a meeting with the commissioners is scheduled for Thursday to discuss the options available for the county. She said the goal is to put the building at the airport, but a decision has to be made regarding leasing or purchasing the property. The county’s airport authority recently voted to add a drawing of the proposed complex to its master plan.
Shumar said a long-term lease, such as 25 years, is being discussed. Vicites said if the contract for the building is several million dollars, the county’s interest has to be protected in the future. He said they need to meet fast and “get our game plan together.”
Because there were no plans to put anything aviation-related on the site, Shumar said they should be able to move quickly. She said the money is secured and no significant archaeological findings were discovered at the site.
Vicites said he believes the airport is the rightful place for FACT. “It’s definitely the best long-term solution for intermingling our transportation needs,” he said.
In agenda items, the commissioners voted to place on Thursday’s agenda a motion to appoint five members to the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) board. Tammy Shell, executive director of the county office of Planning, Zoning and Community Development, said the five members must include at least two county commissioners and another elected official and two citizens.