Mar. 8—Two bids for upgrading the Crawford County Courthouse’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system are under review by the county.
County commissioners are expected to act on awarding a contract to one of the bidders later this month after opening bids last week at the courthouse.
Only two firms submitted bids to upgrade the building’s HVAC and air exchange system — Perry Construction Group Inc. of Erie and Massaro Construction Group of Pittsburgh.
The project would include removing and replacing such things as duct work, air handling units and condensers, as well as renovations to accommodate a new system.
Perry submitted a base bid of $2,217,000 while Massaro submitted a base bid of $2,377,000. The project does include multiple additions as well as deductions, based on the various options selected by the county.
Commissioners called the bids competitive based on their close proximity in price.
They are looking to use some of the county’s grant funds from the federal American Rescue Plan Act to pay for the work. The county has been awarded a total of $16.4 million.
In the summer of 2015, the county had an air quality study performed on the courthouse after some employees in basement offices took to wearing air filtration masks at work.
The 2015 study measured dust, mold, volatile organic materials and metals at different days and times from June to mid-September that year. The study found increased carbon dioxide in some areas, but the results fell within federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards.
The county did purchase some portable air filtration equipment for the basement offices in the wake of the 2015 study.
Keith Gushard can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at .
