Housing authority awards contracts
A Uniontown company has been awarded the contract to demolish the sewage treatment facility at Marion Villa in Washington Township.
The Fayette County Housing Authority awarded the contract Thursday to Stash Trucking, which submitted the low bid of $11,850. Six bids were received, with the highest bid at $48,615.
“We had to tap into the municipal sewerage authority with Washington Township. We closed down the system about two years ago. Now it’s time to tear it down,” said Andre Walters, the authority’s director of funding and asset planning.
Walters said the low bid was consistent with the amount of material from the project that the contractor would be able to sell for scrap.
The authority received seven bids for boiler replacement at the Belle Vernon Apartments. The bids ranged from $52,500 to $66,000. The contract was awarded to the low bidder, JB Mechanical of Bethel Park. Walters said the current boilers for the heating system are 14 years old.
B.J. Mundel Co. of Uniontown was the only acceptable bidder for a two-year contract for ranges and refrigerators at all of the authority’s properties, with the total amount not to exceed $200,000. It was noted that General Electric had submitted a bid, but provided a percentage increase, not a dollar increase as requested, and would not guarantee the percentage would remain the same throughout the contract, so it was considered a non-responsive bidder. The authority also approved a resolution awarding the contract for security/fire/access/door entry systems monitoring at all properties to Kourt Security Partners doing business as Select Security. The company is located in Lancaster and was selected through the state pre-approved bid list.
Authority executive director Tom Harkless reported that the authority is aggressively treating recent cases of bed bugs and two of the senior citizens apartment buildings. There have been three incidents at Marshall Manor and five at Belle Vernon Manor, Harkless said, with no problems at other buildings. Three of the incidents occurred in August. Harkless said Ehrlich pest control services has been called and is working on the problem. A certified bed bug detecting dog will be brought in to inspect the entire building in Belle Vernon.
Harkless also reported that steps are being taken to allow the housing authority to sell off 4.9 acres of wooded land at Fort Mason Village to Summa Development for construction of 43 affordable workforce housing units. Harkless said the housing authority would manage and maintain those units once they were built. The board is expected to vote on the sale of the property at its Nov. 14 meeting.