Allegheny Twp. officials to reject municipal building construction bids

The Allegheny Township supervisors are expected to vote Monday to reject construction bids for renovations of the municipal complex.

The supervisors agreed Wednesday that rejecting the bids is the right move.

Township Manager Greg Primm said the low bids totaled $2.3 million, but the projected construction budget is $2 million.

Officials are planning to build an addition onto the municipal building as well as renovate it. In addition, the township will put a new $85,000 rubber roof and new gutters on the public works building.

To finance the work, the township launched a $2.4 million bond issue in August. The bond issue was the first one ever undertaken by the township in its 200 years of existence.

Since the bids came in at $300,000 more than expected, Primm said the township is scaling back on its plans.

“We’ve tailored the building to our budget,” he said.

The redesign of the project by the township’s architectural firm, HHSDR, is expected to be completed by the end of March, according to Primm. The supervisors must approve the redesign and then authorize advertising for a second round of contract bids.

Overall, Primm said the bid situation and subsequent redesign will probably delay the project by about six months.

Among the municipal building upgrades included in the project area: a new roof, installing insulation, repairing a skylight, duct work, converting the current supervisors meeting room to a record-keeping room, placing a handicapped-accessible ramp under a roof and upgrading other deficiencies within the building.

The addition to the township building, which was built in 1979, will include a new meeting room for the supervisors.