Greene officials award contract
WAYNESBURG – Greene County commissioners Thursday tentatively awarded a $78,000 contract for a project involving the replacement of the aging courthouse steps. Commissioners approved the low bid for the project from Kishmo Concrete Contractors Inc. of Apollo, pending approval from the county solicitor.
The county received two other bids for the project. Michael Facchiano Contracting of Pittsburgh submitted a bid of $84,097, and S.E.T. Inc. of Lowellville, Ohio, placed a bid of $110,800.
County maintenance director Kevin Gray said the 11 courthouse steps, which have not been replaced since the 1970s, have spots that are crumbling and decaying.
“It definitely needs to be done again,” he said. “They’re really starting to show their age.”
Commission chairwoman Pam Snyder said the project would coincide with Waynesburg Borough’s ongoing streetscape project, in which various sidewalks and curbs are being fixed in front of the courthouse as well as along High, Washington and Greene streets.
“It makes sense to do the different projects at the same time,” Snyder said.
County chief clerk Gene Lee said the project is expected to begin sometime after the Rain Day festival, which will be held in downtown Waynesburg on July 29. Lee said he anticipates the project to be completed by late fall.
Gray said the steps will be replaced one section at a time, so that the front entrance to the courthouse will continue to be accessible to the public throughout the project.
The money for the project will be earmarked through the county’s capital improvements fund, Snyder said.
In other business, commissioners approved a contract for an engineering firm to begin preliminary work on a resurfacing project at the Greene County Airport.
The $19,000 contract between the county and Widmer Engineering will allow the firm to prepare bid specifications for the project, which will include the resurfacing of the airport’s runway and the application of runway/taxiway markings.
Gray said the runway has not been repaved since the early 1990s.
The money for the project also will be earmarked through the county’s capital improvements fund. Lee said the county hopes the project will be completed by fall.
In another matter, the commissioners also appointed Snyder to the county’s soil conservation board.
The board is responsible for planning and directing the soil conservation programs, coordinating the help of governmental agencies and assigning priority to requests for assistance from private landowners for resource development efforts.
Snyder fills a vacant slot on the board as a commissioner representative and replaces Dave Coder, who resigned as county commissioner on July 2.
Commissioners also recognized Antonio “Marco” Pantalo and his father, Philip Pantalo, both who are employed as corrections officers at the Greene County Prison, for their recently completed yearlong tours of duty in Iraq.
Both men are members of the U.S. Army Reserves and left for military leave in June 2009. The men came home in June and returned to work at the prison earlier this month.