Harrisburg council approves town-hall upfit, backup generator and Oakley Drive sidewalk contracts

The Harrisburg Town Council approved three construction and installation contracts in its July meeting: a second-floor town-hall upfit, a town-hall diesel backup generator, and the Oakley Drive sidewalk project, with staff directed to proceed under presented budgets and to return with any required budget ordinance amendments.

Town-hall upfit: Jonathan Young (speaker 19) presented a construction contract with McKell Marketing Group to renovate the second floor of town hall (space vacated by the YMCA) to create offices, a larger conference/training room and staff areas. The contract amount presented was $489,670.29, to be funded from the town’s existing renovation budget; council approved the contract and authorized the town manager to execute the agreement.

Backup generator: Staff proposed purchase and installation of a 400-kilowatt diesel backup generator to power town hall during outages. Jonathan Young said the unit was sized to peak demand in consultation with Duke Energy and would be located at the rear of the building near existing meter bases. The contract with Atlantic Power Solutions was presented at $219,220.18 (including taxes); funding is proposed across the capital reserve, general fund, and water and sewer fund as shown in the proposed FY27 budget ordinance amendment. Council approved the purchase and the associated amendments.

Oakley Drive sidewalk: The council awarded a construction contract to Carolina Site Works for the Oakley Drive sidewalk project (north side between Sims Parkway and Harris Depot) following a formal bid process and value engineering. The construction contract base was $387,009.77 with a 10% contingency reflected in the contract for a not-to-exceed $387,977 figure; staff noted in-house design and survey work saved roughly $50,000. The contract includes planned curb and gutter, storm drainage and a pedestrian crossing; staff anticipates construction beginning Sept. 1 and completion by Dec. 4, with town staff installing the pedestrian crossing equipment purchased separately.

Quotes, procurement notes and schedules: Staff said the town used informal bidding or multiple quotes consistent with procurement limits: the town-hall upfit contract was the lowest responsible bidder from an informal procurement; the generator procurement fell below formal bidding thresholds and staff evaluated quotes; the sidewalk project underwent formal bidding and value engineering. For each award, council approval included authorization for the town manager to execute contracts in forms approved by the town attorney and finance officer.

Next steps: Staff will execute contracts, procure vendor schedules and return with any required budget ordinance amendments and final schedules for council records. The council held no roll-call tallies in the public transcript; each motion was carried by voice vote.