Last week, Tyrone Borough Council approved one bid aimed at upgrading its community pool and rejected another based on the advice of its engineer.
The replacement of a pool drainage and grating system was estimated at $7,500 in a Sept. 2004 letter received by the borough from its engineering firm, CET Engineering Services of Huntingdon.
Monday night, the borough accepted the only bid it received for swimming pool grates from Grate Ideas from Vermont in the amount of $8,542. However, it rejected a bid of $30,572.78 for a pool access ramp from Recreonics, Inc. of Kentucky. The Sept. 2004 letter from CET had estimated the item would cost about $6,500.
In a January 2005 memo to the borough, engineer Ray Myers said, “the bid for the access ramp exceeds estimates and we recommend that this bid be rejected.
“While the access ramp specified meets ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) requirements, the design selected by Recreonics resulted in a much higher-than-estimated cost.”
Based on that recommendation, council rejected the bid.
Myers offered an alternative to the ramp by suggesting council could consider two other means of pool access: steps to allow ingress or egress without the use of a ladder and a portable lift for ADA access. The lift could be stored and easily set up when needed, according to Myers.
Pictures of the equipment were made available to council and Myers said catalogs showed prices for the steps at less than $3,000 and portable lifts for less than $5,000. He said borough employee Gary Barr planned to visit the high school pool where similar items are in use to see if the equipment would suit the community pool’s needs.
Council took no official action on those recommendations.
Myers’ September letter listed 16 different improvements which could be made to the pool at Reservoir Park. The estimates for those improvements came to just more than $322,000. The borough has set aside $300,000 in its 2005 budget for the pool improvements.
Council approved a bid on another ADA-related issue, a public address system for the council chambers and conference room. The bid was for $9,851.90 from Blair Communications. That price includes a one-year warranty. An additional five-year warranty was available for $1,843.16. On the advice of Myers, council decided not to go with the extended warranty.
Myers said the base bid was in line with estimates for the system. He said he had consulted with Huntingdon Borough and based on its experience with a similar system, he didn’t think the additional warranty was needed.
The system would be used to aid the general public in hearing the council members and others during the meetings. Certain elements of the equipment are specifically designed to help those with hearing difficulties.
