Third round of bids issued for Cooper Pool project
By:Roger Alvarado
Mayor Angelo Corradino says he’s not overly concerned that the borough has not yet received a successful bid to rebuild Cooper Pool in Lost Valley.
The mayor says he expects council members to accept a bid to do the work by year’s end.
He says he remains optimistic that a successful bidder will end up coming forward within the next few weeks so that council members get to vote on whether to accept or reject the bid during their Nov. 8 meeting.
"We have to get it awarded by the end of this year at the latest January or February of next year," Borough Administrator Gary Garwacke said. "The first two bids were too high."For the pool to open in time the work would need to be concluded by June 30, 2005, Mr. Garwacke said.
Last month, Borough Council members turned down two bidders vying to rebuild the 32-year-old swimming pool. The two bids, a $293,800 bid from Stoneridge, Inc. located in Feasterville, Pa., and a $196,600 bid from RJR Engineering Company in Califon were deemed "too high" by council members in September.
During the Oct. 12 Borough Council meeting council members voted to advertise the job for a third time after failing to receive a single bid to do the work.
This year, extensive repair and restoration work to the pool’s filter system; walls and floor were necessary to ensure that the swimming pool opened in time for the summer.
The borough continues to await word on a $100,000 county grant application it filed last year that would offset the cost of a new pool estimated at somewhere between $170,000 and $200,000.
According to the mayor, a new pool will be ready by the summer of 2005.