Tarentum awards contract for 23 building demolitions

Tarentum will pay a single contractor almost $171,000 to tear down 23 dilapidated houses in the borough.

Council awarded the contract to Allen Demolition of Wilkinsburg.

Costs for individual properties range from $5,000 to $10,000.

The borough was considering awarding contracts to multiple companies based on cost, but Allen Demolition offered the lowest total price, code enforcement Officer Anthony Bruni said.

The borough is waiting for the company to sign and return the contract, Bruni said.

“They told me they will start the work right after the contract is signed,” he said. “They were given 60 days to complete the demolitions, but we can be flexible if bad weather delays the work.”

A representative of Allen Demolition could not immediately be reached for comment.

The company has three excavating machines that can be used in the borough and plans to work on more than one property at a time, Bruni said.

The borough had sought bids for demolishing 26 properties.

Three — 134 Walters Way, 339 W. 11th Ave. and 138 Davidson St. — were taken off the list, Bruni said.

The property on Walters Way was removed because there is a possible applicant for the Allegheny County Vacant Property Recovery program, Bruni said. The program acquires vacant, blighted properties and conveys them to applicants who have developed a concrete reuse plan and demonstrated the capacity to implement it. Individuals, municipalities, community groups, local businesses and private and nonprofit developers are able to apply.

Bruni said the owner of the West 11th Avenue property came forward and asked for a delay to recover belongings.

The house on Davidson Street was sold to a new owner who is trying to repair it.

The Davidson property “was never condemned, and it was just on the initial list because it appeared to be abandoned,” Bruni said. “We were unaware of its status because the previous owner did not respond to our certified letters.”