Schuyler awards building contract

WATKINS GLEN—The Schuyler County Legislature Monday awarded contracts totaling $2,742,200 for a new shared services complex that will be used mainly by the county and the village of Watkins Glen.

Welliver McGuire Inc. of Montour Falls won the general construction contract with a bid of $1,897,000, said county Administrator Tim O’Hearn.

Separate contracts were awarded for heating, ventilation and air conditioning; plumbing; electrical work; and controls and technology

work.  The county opened bids on the project Nov. 20.

O’Hearn said the bids had been expected to total about $3 million for the 27,000-square-foot complex at the northeast corner of the intersection of Decatur Street and Fairgrounds Lane. It will house offices and shops for a variety of county and village public works operations.

The Town of Dix is also a potential tenant for administrative services, O’Hearn said.

Construction is scheduled to begin early next year. No completion date has been announced. Hunt Engineers, Architects and Land Surveyors, which has an office in Horseheads, designed the building.

The project will be financed with contributions of $500,000 each from the village and the county, along with a $484,000 state grant. O’Hearn said the county will borrow  the remainder of the money, estimated at about $1.5 million. The legislature authorized a bond issue of up to $2 million for the project.

The county and the village will repay the loan based on the amount of space each municipality uses in the facility.

Mark Specchio, village public works superintendent, said the village share of the bond issue is expected to be about $370,000.

The new facility is part of a statewide trend toward consolidating municipal services in order to hold down property taxes.

The legislature also issued a finding Monday under state environmental review regulations that the project will have no significant impact on the environment.