Friday, July 31, 2009
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN — All of the companies awarded contracts for expansion of the Western Reserve Transit Authority administrative offices are from the Mahoning Valley.
WRTA received $3.5 million in federal stimulus funds — $2.2 million for renovation and expansion of the Mahoning Avenue offices. The remainder is being spent on 12 new buses, five new minivans, surveillance cameras and bus shelters.
WRTA board members voted at a meeting Thursday to award the contracts for general contracting; plumbing; heating, ventilation and air conditioning; fire protection; and electrical work. Twenty-six bids were submitted.
The awards were as follows:
UGeneral: Murphy Contracting of Youngstown, $783,736.
UPlumbing: Prout Boiler of Youngstown, $42,900.
UHVAC: York Mahoning of Youngstown, $159,600.
UFire protection: S.A. Comunale of Howland, $21,650.
UElectrical: University Electric of Youngstown, $174,072.
The contracts awarded for HVAC and fire protection weren’t the lowest submitted in those categories, but Don Meszaros, WRTA director of maintenance, said that the companies with lower bids filled out paperwork either incorrectly or incompletely.
The agency consulted with the Federal Transit Administration in opting to award contracts to the other companies because of the paperwork issues, officials said.
“We have 90 percent or better of the federal money that was awarded to WRTA that is going to companies in the Valley,” said John P. Brown III, a board member. “I think that says a lot for the companies in this Valley.”
The agency is still waiting for a permit from the city to erect temporary offices that will be used during the expansion work.
The temporary quarters, which resemble trailers, will be placed in front of the administrative offices and wired to be used by personnel.
It’s been waiting for more than a month for the permit. Meszaros said that the city employee who handles that work has been ill.
Some board members expressed irritation at the delay.
“How many millions of dollars are we bringing into the city of Youngstown?” Brown asked, referring to income tax.
That’s money that could be used to keep city employees, he said.
James Ferraro, WRTA executive director, plans to contact Mayor Jay Williams today to see if the problem can be addressed.
denise_dick@vindy.com