Bradford City Council gave the green light at Tuesday’s meeting
for the Office of Economic and Community Development to try again
for bids on interior work on Old City Hall.

The first time around, the bids came in at $3.5 million – far
more than the anticipated cost of $2.1 million. The OECD and
Klauscher Architects Inc. recommended that council reject all the
bids.

“Good luck on that, Ray,” Councilman Dan Costello said to Ray
McMahon, executive director of the OECD, upon approving the project
for re-bidding. “We’ll need it, thank you,” McMahon replied,
laughing.

When bid, the interior work included general construction,
plumbing, heating and air conditioning, electrical and fire alarms
and sprinklers. This would be the second phase of work on the
historic structure.

In other action, council approved a facade improvement grant in
the amount of $5,000 – the highest amount possible in the program –
to Jonathan Pingie of Pinciaro Inc. for Players Downtown, located
on Mechanic Street.

The total amount done on the facade was $11,107.31. The building
is in the historic district and colors must be chosen from the
city’s historic color chart, according to the historic preservation
ordinance.

The facade grant was through the Main Street Manager
program.

Council also approved payment to Buffalo Crushed Stone for
$677.63 for pothole patching material, which led to a question from
Councilman Tom Shay about the success of a pothole “experiment”
that was tried last summer.

Shay asked Costello about Pennz Suppress, a product through
American Refining Group which was tried on Hilton Street in
July.

Costello explained that the dust suppression – which the product
is intended for – was successful on that street. “We have some
potholes showing up again.”

The liquid, about 20 percent resin and about 80 percent water,
was sprayed on the street to show the mixture’s capabilities to
area municipalities.

Costello said that Hilton Street was not given a second coat
after the first one on July 20, and a second coat may have made a
difference.

“But the potholes are showing up again,” he said, shrugging his
shoulders. The application for potholes was experimental, the Pennz
Suppress representative stressed in July.

Also at the meeting, council

* approved payment of $8,455 to attorney Greg Henry and $4,125
to attorneys Clarke and Hollenbeck for services provided in the
McKean County Solid Waste litigation;

* approved payment of $138,667.80 to IA Construction Corp. for
the 2005 Summer Resurfacing Project for city streets; and

* extended the current Bradford City Police Department
promotional eligibility list to May 15.