Construction is set to begin in the next few weeks on a new fire station on Baldwin Road.
The Orion Township Board of Trustees voted Oct. 18 to award the construction bid for the station to Degenhardt & Sons in the amount of $1,336,000, subject to compliance with township insurance requirements.
The expected completion date of the station is within 49 weeks of the beginning of construction. Funding will come from the fire capital improvement fund.
The township received 15 bids for the project. Straub-Pettitt-Yastes, architects for the project, reviewed and evaluated the bids, Orion Township Fire Chief Jeff Key said, and recommended the township go with the bid from Degenhardt.
‘The only concern I have is do we have a completion date,? said treasurer James Marleau, adding that the township had some issues with this builder before on completion dates.
‘Apparentlyithere are pros and cons to locking someone into a number of weeks,? clerk Jill Bastian said, adding that 49 weeks was the time frame supplied with the bid.
‘It seems like time after time we get burned on this,? Marleau said. ‘Everyone’s your good buddy when you begin.?
Tom Yaste told the board that the builder would have monetary incentive to complete the project sooner rather than later.
‘Completing quickly is to their benefit,? he added. ‘They’re doing winter construction, which will add an element of the unknown.?
Yaste said they would receive a bonus for finishing earlier.
‘It’s better to work as a cooperative group, and try to get things done quickly,? he said.
According to Yaste, the low bid received was a little higher than they had hoped it would be.
‘We had six additional contractors pick up bid materials but who didn’t bid,? he said. ‘The range is a good indication that everyone understood what they had.?
Supervisor Jerry Dywasuk asked Key how things went when the township constructed the last fire station, on Silverbell Road.
‘Basically overseeing the construction was myself and the building official,? Key said. ‘It will be the same this time.?