ORANGE — The town is looking for bids for a fire station fix-up, hoping to repair a portion of the roof on the downtown station built in 1936.
The department is soliciting bids for “roof repair to the flat roof on the rear of the Orange Fire Station.” Quotes are being accepted by the Franklin Regional Council of Governments on behalf of the town.
Last year’s Special Town Meeting in August authorized borrowing $100,000 for repairs. Before the meeting, Fire Chief James Young and Selectboard member Tom Smith both described the fire station downtown as in general disrepair.
“As we know, the fire station is old,” Young said, adding that “major structural beams” in the building are cracked and must be repaired. Young also noted a rubber membrane on the rear portion of the roof — the section being repaired — that had been patched “more times than I can count,” leading to suspicions that the wood beneath the roof was rotting.
“We have three indoor water features every time it rains,” he joked.
According to Town Administrator Gabriele Voelker, the exact cost of the roof repairs was hard to predict, which is why $100,000 was on the Special Town Meeting agenda. She said only the amount of money necessary will be spent out of that $100,000. Young said that all the repairs, including the beams beneath the roof, were estimated to cost around $20,000 to fix.
All quotes should be received by March 20.
A prebid briefing is mandatory and will be held on site on March 5 at 2 p.m. Only those who attend the briefing or send a representative will be allowed to bid. In the case of bad weather, a snow day for the next business day at the same time will be held, but will not be mandatory.
Repairing the fire station roof is one of a series of upgrades to the Fire Department approved by voters last year, including a new fire engine, a new mobile air compressor system and three new full-time hires.
Reach David McLellan at dmclellan@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 268.