Contract awarded for demolition of Monessen building
MONESSEN – Demolition on the former Health Mart Discount Center should be starting relatively soon.
Council unanimously awarded the contract for the work Thursday to Wreckcrew Demolition LLC of Saxonburg for $114,950.
Wreckcrew was the lowest among nine bids submitted for the demolition of the building at 500 Donner Ave. Mayor Ron Mozer said bids ranged from Wreckcrew’s bid to one that exceeded $300,000. The average bid was about $170,000.
Mozer said Thursday that now that the bid has been approved, the next step is to issue a purchase order to Wreckcrew, which has to produce insurance and bonding documents.
“That will take a couple of days,” Moser explained. “During the bidding process, he indicated he could have equipment on site within about a week.”
Mozer could not provide an exact time frame for dmolition, but doesn’t expect it to be a long process.
Bricks began to fall from the structure Feb. 9, causing a hazardous situation that resulted in the closure of Fifth Street and prompted Mozer to make an emergency declaration.
Former Mayor Matthew Shorraw sought a state grant to renovate the building. That $199,648 grant was approved Tuesday by the Commonwealth Financial Authority (CFA) to now be used for demolition. No matching funds are required.
Resident Ernie Telegraphis asked what the city would do with the $84,698 of the grant if it is not needed for the building’s demolition.
“I don’t know if we can do anything with the balance,” Mozer responded. “That will require permission from the CFA at the state level before we can do anything else. The grant was for the demolition of that building. It may be possible that they will allow us to use some of the money if we have some left over, but there’s no guarantee.”
Mozer explained that the city has taken every requisite step needed to be able to perform the demolition. An asbestos study was undertaken and revealed that only a little bit of caulking existed around the window and that matter will be addressed by the contractor.
“The asbestos and lead isn’t anywhere near the magnitude that we thought it might be,” Mozer said. “It’s something that’s actually easy to take care of. You keep it wet as you’re bringing the building down and separate the windows from the rest and you’re in pretty good shape.”
A analysis of the water showed that it was free of asbestos and lead.
The state Historical Preservation Office said the building held no historical significance so the city can proceed with the demolition.
Another matter concerning the building discussed Thursday was the existence of pigeons, which elicited a bit of laughter from the audience when first mentioned.
“I laughed, too, the very first time this came up, but it is a serious issue,” Mozer said, who added agencies he contacted said the pigeon is not a protected bird. “There are companies set aside to do extermination of those type of animals. We ought to seriously think this through how we do that. Pigeons do carry a lot of disease and have a lot of issues associated with them.”