Peters Township council accepts $3.72 million bid for new fire station
The new Peters Township Fire Department substation will be built at 435 Bebout Road.
Renderings of the new Peters Township Fire Department substation were presented at Monday’s meeting.
Peters Township moved closer to starting construction of a new fire department substation Monday after council accepted a $3.72 million bid for the project.
At its meeting Monday, council voted unanimously to award the contract to McKeesport-based TBI Contracting. It was the lowest of six bids the township received, and came in 3.4% higher than the estimated cost. Peters Township allocated $4 million for the project in its 2022 budget.
Peters purchased 2.87 acres of land at 435 Bebout Road for $500,000 in 2019. The location chosen for the new station is meant to allow the Peters Township Fire Department to improve fire protection for the southeastern portion of Peters.
In April of last year council contracted EPM Architecture of Bradford Woods to design the new substation, which will be known as Station 3. Renderings of the building were displayed at Monday’s meeting.
EPM recommended a metal roof, which would have added $75,000 to the contract with TBI, but township Manager Paul Lauer told council he disagreed with that proposal.
“This roof that you see on this side is actually visible from the road, and the concern, from my perspective, would be that we’re trying to get a building that matches the aesthetic qualities of the homes around it, and all those homes have shingle roofs,” Lauer said.
He added that it is also a matter of practicality. Lauer said that even if the township needed to replace the roof in 25 years, it would likely still be less expensive than the current cost of metal roofing. The highest bid the township received for the metal roof was $188,000.
“And at some point in time you will have to replace that metal roof,” Lauer said. “It doesn’t make sense to me to accept the alternate, but that really is up to you.”
Peters Township fire Chief Michael McLaughlin said in an email that construction will start on the new fire station within a couple of months, and it is planned to be completed by the end of the year.