Highlands gets 4 bids to fix Tarentum clock tower

Highlands School District has four bidders and an array of options to choose from to fix the leaking clock tower at its elementary school in Tarentum.

This is the second time the district has sought bids for the work at Highlands Elementary School. The school board rejected the two bids it received in May.

New bids were opened at the district’s administration office Tuesday.

The four companies that bid this time included one of the previous bidders, Pullman SST, and Marsa, whose bid the district would not accept because the company submitted its original bid it a few minutes late.

Marsa appears to have submitted the lowest base bid, $55,800, for pointing the stone at the top of the clock tower.

Pullman SST submitted the second lowest base bid, $57,619.

Two new companies had higher bids — Allegheny Restoration at $76,750 and Mariani & Richards at $100,110.

Wilson Restoration, which had bid in the first round, did not bid again.

Five alternate bids would add to the project’s cost. They cover cleaning stone from the bottom of the cornice to the top of the tower; two different methods of replacing the tower’s roof; brick crack injection repair; and lightning protection recertification.

The lightning protection recertification would be needed only if the roof cap is replaced, district buildings and grounds Supervisor Chris Reiser said. That’s because the lightning rods atop the tower would need to be disconnected and reinstalled.

The companies’ bids on the alternates varied widely.

Replacing the tower’s broken clock is no longer part of the project, Reiser said. He said the district still wants to get a working clock in the face of the tower.

The bids are now under review. The school board is expected to discuss them when it meets at 7 p.m. Aug. 12 and Aug. 19 at Highlands High School.

District officials had initially wanted the work to be done over the summer while students were out of the building. Now, that will not be possible.

Work will have to be done during the school year. Reiser said noisy work would be limited during the school day.

The work will be done by late October or early November.

In March, businessman John Greco Jr. and his wife, Sally Greco, of Lower Burrell donated $25,000 to the district for the work on the clock tower. Greco, owner of P.G. Greco Sons and JG’s Tarentum Station Grille, made the donation in honor of his parents, John and Pauline Greco.