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Five bids for the demolition of the Jomac Products buildings and two bids for asbestos abatement were taken under advisement Friday after being opened at the Warsaw Board of Public Works and Safety meeting.
The physical addresses of the buildings are 1624 and 1600 E. Winona Ave. and Smith Street, Warsaw. They are owned by Fellowship Missions, but the city applied for and received an Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) for $500,000 on Fellowship Missions’ behalf in 2024 for the demolition and asbestos abatement. Michiana Area Council of Governments (MACOG) is handling the grant administration and handled the application process.
Fellowship Missions’ plan for the property is to demolish it, make it into greenspace and then eventually build a new shelter there to replace the current shelter. Once the new shelter is built, the old one will be shut down, demolished and become a parking lot for the new shelter.
Before Warsaw Mayor Jeff Grose opened the bids at the Board of Works meeting, city engineer Aaron Ott pointed out, “We’re opening two bids related to the Jomac building. And if we can clarify that we’re opening the demolition bids versus the asbestos abatement bids as we do that.”
The total bids for the demolition included: Dore & Associates Inc., Bay City, Mich., $398,600; Green Demolition Contractors, La Porte, $386,473; G & G Hauling & Excavating, Warsaw, $322,896; Ritschard Brothers Inc., South Bend, $512,175; and Woodruff Contracting & Sales LLC, Fort Wayne, $342,902.
Ott said he’d like to take the bids under advisement, review them to make sure they’re valid bids and then work with MACOG and Fellowship Missions “to come to a decision on if we should come back with a recommendation of an award at the next board meeting.”
The Board of Works approved for Ott to take the bids under advisement in consultation with the involved agencies to make sure the bids met all the specifications and then bring a recommendation back to the board at their next meeting.
Councilwoman Diane Quance said, “I’m thrilled at the number of contractors that bid on this.”
Ott said he was very pleased to see the interest they had on the project. “It’s good for the city,” he stated.
The total bids for the asbestos abatement included: Protechs Inc, Fort Wayne, $171,601.98; and Environmental Managements Specialists Inc., Huntertown, $45,200.
Ott said, “So, similarly, what we did with the prior bids, this work is also tied to the Community Development Block Grant from OCRA, so we would like to take the bids under advisement, review them with the grant administrator and hopefully come back to the next meeting with a recommendation of an award.”
The Board of Works approved for the bids to be taken under advisement. Ott thanked all the interested bidders.
