Montgomery County legislators have awarded the second of two contracts for the repair of Miami Avenue in the Town of Amsterdam, and work could start within the next week.
At Tuesday’s meeting, legislators approved a bid of $349,500 from Delaware-based Casale Construction Corp. for the labor involved in replacing the culvert pipe on a portion of Miami Avenue. At a special meeting July 1, legislators awarded a contract for materials to Varitech LLC of Liverpool for $115,572.
The portion of Miami Avenue from Tessiero Square to Amsterdam High School has been closed since March 18 after a portion of the road collapsed and the culvert pipe underneath was compromised.
Now that both contracts have been awarded, Montgomery County Public Works Commissioner Paul Clayburn said he expected work to begin shortly, and he is hopeful that the road will be reopened in time for the start of school on September 9.
Ckayburn said he was pleased that nine companies submitted bids on the construction contract. Casale actually was the second-lowest bidder, but was awarded the contract after mathematical errors were discovered in the apparent low bid, he said.
The repair will not cost the county any money, Clayburn said. The project will be financed by federal money channeled through the governor’s Office of Storm Recovery, which will review and approve the contract, then authorize County Executive Matthew Ossenfort to sign it, Clayburn said.
“Once that contract is signed, the contractor should be prepared to start work almost immediately. Until I get that approval it’s very difficult for me to say when work is going to start. I would
anticipate it starting possibly the first week of August at the soonest, and like I said, my goal all along has been September 9, which is the first day of school. I would love for the project to be completed by then.”
District 9 Legislator Robert Purtell, whose district includes the area around Amsterdam High School, said Tuesday he was pleased that both contracts have been awarded and work can start soon.
“I know that this has been a very frustrating event for everybody in the county, and I’m glad to see that the process worked.,” Purtell said. “No one dragged their feet. Everybody went through, and the players we had to play with were many, all the way to the governor’s office. I appreciate everybody’s support on getting this done and I look forward to getting it done in a timely fashion. I’m just glad to see that the process is working properly and we didn’t put any lives at risk.”
