SHAMOKIN - Four bids were received at City Hall for the demolition of two blighted structures on Shamokin Street.
Robert Gusick Demolition, Shamokin, submitted a low bid of $71,812 to knock down 701-703 N. Shamokin St. and 717-719 N. Shamokin St. Both properties were targeted by the city for code enforcement before the former owner, Larry Burda, died in 2014. The properties were purchased last month from the Northumberland County Tax Claim Bureau for a combined $9,051.58.
Northeast Industrial Services Corp., Shamokin, returned a high bid of $128,727. Also bidding were Ferdinand Diminick Contracting, Danville, $98,700, and Affordable Construction and Demolition, Coal Township, $91,240. The bids were opened Wednesday during city council's monthly work session.
Demolition will be funded using Keystone Communities grant funding.
The property at 717-719 N. Shamokin was destroyed by arson in 2013 and eventually partially demolished after it began to collapse. On the southern end of the structure, at Commerce and Shamokin streets, Burda had been found guilty of 36 code violations for deteriorating conditions at the three-story brick building.
Shamokin already has a substantial investment in the block. The city paid $76,812 in an out-of-court settlement to Robert Gusick Demolition. The company performed emergency work in June 2012 at the site of a partial building collapse at 709-711 and 715 N. Shamokin St., once home to the Shamokin Health Spa. The work stopped amid a dispute with the previous administration. More than $100,000 in grant money was paid to other contractors to finish the job.
When the newly acquired buildings are cleared, the city will own consecutive vacant lots from Commerce Street north toward Sunbury Street, where two fire damaged buildings remain.
Other business
Council seeks options to repair the roof of the American Legion Building on Independence Street.
A roof drain is malfunctioning, causing leaking at the building's southeast corner - the Water Street side. Rick Bozza, code officer, said water is running under the rubber roof and has rotted the fiberboard beneath. He estimated the area needed for repair at 6-by-6 feet. The area was previously repaired about five years ago, he said.
Bozza was directed by council to get contractor estimates.
An appraisal was returned for the city's gravel lot along Third Street. The plot of land is two parcels, split at Water Street. It will be put up for sale through a sealed bid process.
Negotiations with the city's non-uniformed union will begin Aug. 24, according to Councilman David Kinder. Street department employees and the city technician belong to AFSCME. The contract expired Jan. 1, and employees are operating under the previous terms.
Kinder said work on the 2016 city budget would begin next work. City council is required to begin the process no later than Sept. 1, according to terms of its registration with the state's Act 47 financial recovery program. A preliminary draft is due Oct. 1, allowing 30 days for Shamokin's Act 47 coordinator to review it before final adoption. A final budget is due Dec. 31.
Police Chief Darwin Tobias III presented council with a proposed policy for tow companies. If approved by council, tow operators must register with the city before they're contacted by police to respond to vehicle accidents, etc. The policy establishes a rotating schedule. Each operator will be designated for towing on a weekly basis. Drivers are still able, however, to choose a tow operator of their choice.