MINERSVILLE — Borough council members were surprised when the bids for Legion Memorial Park came in more than expected recently.
The yet-to-be-built park is planned for the site of the former American Legion building at 3 E. Sunbury St. that was demolished in July 2017.
The borough was awarded a $100,000 Keystone Communities Grant through the state Department of Community and Economic Development in 2017. The borough also contributed to the park.
Deck & Edson Associates, a Lititz-based firm, was chosen by the council in September 2017 for work on the creation of the park. Council President Jamie Kuehn said the estimate was $112,156.
“The bids exceeded our expectations,” Kuehn said Tuesday.
The following bids were received: Bognet Inc., $181,552; Miller Bros. Construction, $205,500; Performance Construction, $233,681; Spotts Bros. Inc., $244,468; RLS Construction Group, $274,664; Greenland Construction Inc., $519,800.
“Right now, the bids are way over our budget,” Kuehn said.
He noted the bids expire Jan. 19. After some discussion, the council authorized Keuhn in agreement with Borough Manager Robert Mahalchick to award a bid prior to the Jan. 19 cutoff date. There is a meeting Monday with borough engineer Donald Cuff, from Entech Engineering, and members of the community development committee to decide the next steps, Mahalchick said.
Kuehn said the project could be scaled back based on the amount of money available.
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