Clarion County commissioners opened bids Thursday for the renovation of the county courthouse and gave pay raises to selected county employees.
Four courthouse bids were opened during the meeting. The base bids were CBF of Sligo, $1,442,300; Delta of Clarion, $1,593,230; Fred L. Burns of Shippenville, $1,435,500; and Hudson Construction of Hermitage, $1,697,000.
Each of the bidders attached a “deduct” to the original bid for sewage work that will be bid separately. CBF deducted $79,000, Delta deducted $27,000, Burns deducted $90,000 and Hudson deducted $58,000.
The work in the courthouse basement includes the installation of heating and cooling and extensive remodeling.
The domestic relations department will be moved into the courthouse, and that department will go into the left side of the basement where the deputy break room is now.
The boiler room would remain in the same area but the restrooms on the right side would be renovated. An additional two restrooms will be installed on the second floor.
The courthouse is not currently ADA compliant
In November, the county was awarded a $900,000 grant from the state’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) for the rehabilitation of the courthouse.
In the grant description, RACP said the project would entail demolition, framing, plumbing upgrades, HVAC upgrades, electrical upgrades and a final finish. In addition, a fresh air intake will be installed to allow for increased airflow throughout the ground level.
The extensive renovation of the courthouse forced the transition of all of the county offices from the courthouse to the Clarion County Complex in Shippenville.
Work is expected to begin on the first and second floor in the coming days.
In other business at Thursday’s commissioners meeting, the panel voted to increase the hourly rate for corrections officers and 9-1-1 dispatchers in spite of warnings from Commissioner Ted Tharan.
The county approved a memorandum of agreement with the corrections officers by a 2-1 vote with Tharan voting no.
Commissioner Braxton White said the county is having difficulty attracting corrections officers and the pay increase was needed for the county to be competitive.
The increase stemmed from a grievance claiming the county had violated the contract’s “me too” provision when wage increases were granted to county probation officers.
Under the agreement, the starting rate, trainee rate and all other rates will increase by $1.50 an hour.
“You have opened Pandora’s box,” said Tharan. “We (the county) are already into deficit spending. We lost about $500,000 in revenue when the reassessment was pushed back a year and now you have added another $300,000.”
“The warden has been begging for help,” said Commissioner Wayne Brosius. “This is something we had to do.”
Tharan said the employees deserve an increase but noted the hike isn’t in the county budget.
“We have to be financially responsible,” he said.
The commissioners also approved a $2 per hour increase for 9-1-1 dispatchers. That motion also passed 2-1 with Tharan again voting no.
“You have opened Pandora’s box a little more,” he said. “Are you going to tell the rest of the county’s employees that they aren’t worth the same pay raise?”
Tharan said the combined pay increases put the county about $1 million into deficit spending.
“We are digging a deeper hole,” he said.
White said the increase for the 9-1-1 dispatchers would be covered by the hike in the 9-1-1 surcharge approved by the state.
Brosius said he was concerned about public safety.
“We can’t just turn the convicts loose,” he said.
In another matter, the commissioners unanimously approved the bid from Human Resources Transportation to the Crawford Area Transportation Authority in Meadville. CATA offered a single trip rate of $61.05.
“This is part of our plan to regionalize,” said Brosius.
The agency serves Crawford, Venango and now Clarion counties.
Brosius said the current employees would be retained.