Contract for base awarded (06/09/08)

Despite county money possibly being tight for 2009, Jay County will be shouldering some of the cost for a combined fire and ambulance base near Dunkirk.

The low bid for the station opened Monday, June 2 was about $120,000 higher than expected, leaving county officials at a crossroads whether to re-bid the project or eat the cost.

With a $500,000 grant for the construction, the county was looking to shave the figure closer to its goal.

But the $120,000 shortfall will be made up by the Dunkirk Volunteer Firemen and the county, and Jay County Commissioners this morning awarded the contract to Limberlost Construction Inc., Geneva.

Community developer Ami Huffman said this morning that she had contacted the Dunkirk volunteer fire department and was able to secure $60,000 of the needed money from their fundraising efforts.

"They stayed together, they worked together and they were really great," Huffman said of the volunteer's efforts to pull together the money. The Dunkirk firemen run a state-licensed bingo game at the Jay Garment Antique Mall in Portland.

In return for donation, the volunteer department requested certain provisions from the county such as a chance to build a storage shed in the future for storage.

Limberlost Construction had the low base bid. The company, which recently completed renovation of John Jay Center for Learning, was the recommended choice of the project architect from Schneider Corporation.

"(The architect) found no reason why they shouldn't be awarded this bid," Huffman said.

The commissioners decided to award the bid to Limberlost for the project and, along with the volunteer fire department, will put up $60,000 to fund the construction.

"It's official," Parr said.[[In-content Ad]]