Finance committee reviews recommended low bid for fire station renovations and $24,000 City Hall bathroom design contract

The finance committee heard staff recommend awarding the low bid of $380,687 to Millstone Management Group of Chesterland, Ohio, for renovations at the city’s fire station and reviewed a $24,000 design contract to bring three City Hall restrooms into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Committee members were told both items are on the council agenda for formal consideration later in the meeting.

City engineer Gerson, who presented the bids and scope, said four contractors submitted proposals and that Millstone Management was the lowest after a numerical correction to its submitted totals. “We had 4 contractors that bid,” Gerson said, and later confirmed the final low bid totaled $380,687 after the review. He said the city checked references and that the company had done work for schools and a recent fire station project. “Millstone Management. They're out of Chesterland, Ohio. I did do some references. They've done a lot of work for many schools, and they also did work for, Brooklyn Fire Station most recently,” Gerson said.

Gerson described the fire-station scope as converting the existing meeting room into four individual dorm rooms with separate heating and air controls, renovating the kitchen with new countertops, flooring and cabinets, and converting a storage/curtain-sleeping area into a new locker room. The city manager and mayor discussed a $500,000 state grant the city has obtained for fire-station improvements; the mayor said that grant would cover the amount being requested from the city for the project and noted any excess could be used for additional items such as a generator. The committee clarified the state grant funds are restricted to the fire station. When Councilman Snitsky asked whether the generator would be for the fire station or City Hall, the mayor responded that the grant money “can only be used for the fire station.” The mayor also said the station's current generator is “well over 20 years old and rusting out.”

On City Hall restrooms, the engineer said there are three restrooms involved: an all-male and an all-female restroom in the hallway and a smaller restroom near the mayor's office. The proposed design contract of $24,000 would finalize plans, prepare bid documents and manage construction to bring the restrooms to ADA standards; the city’s rough construction estimate is “just over $200,000.” The administration said it has applied for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) that would cover a substantial portion of the construction cost and expects to learn whether the city is awarded the grant in December.

Councilman Morrow praised the administration's work on ADA improvements citywide and thanked Engineer Gerson for pursuing grant opportunities. No formal award or contract approvals were recorded in the finance committee discussion excerpt; staff presented the low bid and the design contract for consideration and indicated both items would be considered later by the full council.

Next steps: staff recommended awarding the fire-station contract to Millstone Management Group and recommended proceeding with the bathroom design contract; formal votes were not recorded in the committee discussion and both items were described as being on the council agenda for later action.