Bid awarded for Russellville Community Center roof

RUSSELLVILLE — A moment awaited after continuous efforts by its stewards and supporters, a bid to replace the Russellville Community Center’s roof is finally secured.

After opening three of them at its regular one on June 26, the Russellville Town Council awarded the project to Big Sky Roofing, Brownsburg, at a special meeting held on Friday.

Big Sky’s bid came in at $190,480, lower than ones for $207,850.25 and $281,324, respectively, from Worth Restoration and TJD Roofing & Exteriors.

While replacing the roof has been the main concern, others have included replacing worn-out gutters and capping an unused chimney. Indeed, water leaks largely precipitated a need for the project.

Once Russellville High School and then an elementary school, the building is used for various community-oriented events. It has also been designated as a meeting place in disaster situations.

Greencastle-Putnam County Economic Development Director Kristin Clary clarified that as the work is construction-based and not service-based, a scoring process was not required to select the bid. She also said the contract with Big Sky needed additional language for state and federal guidelines.

“Part of that is going to be compliance with monies from that,” Clary said. “The other is E-Verify.”

E-Verify is a program that contractors use to confirm that their employees are eligible to work in the United States. Clary noted that the town also had to enroll and was thus compliant.

The project is being covered by funding through the Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI), as well as money raised in the community. The Putnam County Commissioners also devoted funds from its Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT) plan.

The council awarded the bid contingent on the language being added to the contract, as well as a fiscal agent ensuring that the project’s finances will be squared away.

While the bid was the base amount and met the project’s qualifications, Big Sky separately submitted addressing gutters and guaranteeing a 20-year warranty. The council and Clary agreed on these being considered later.

“There probably will be change orders, and we’ll address each of those individually as the project goes along,” Clary provided.

Completion of the work is officially set for April of next year. However, optimism has been expressed that it could be done this fall, depending on supply chain issues.

Clerk-Treasurer Martha Mandleco and the community center’s Darrell Wiatt joined the whole council of Cary McGaughey, Tony Riggen and Cathy Jones for the meeting.