| Linde Enterprises plans to start
replacing faulty fire hydrants in Scranton on Thursday after it was the low bidder Monday
for the contract to do the work. John Padavan, a superintendent for Honesdale-based
Linde Enterprises, said the company will use four crews to meet the 16-hydrant per day
minimum. More crews will be added if needed to replace up to 150 hydrants, he said.
Mayor Jim Connors and City Controller Roseann Novembrino on Friday certified that an
emergency exists, allowing the awarding of a contract without the normal bidding
procedure.
The city will use 1997 capital budget funds and federal grant money to fund the work.
OUTCRY FROM RESIDENTS
The action comes after an outcry from city residents and City Council over the high
number of dead hydrants in the city. The extent of the problem became public only
recently.
Linde submitted a bid of $645 per hydrant for normal installation and $845 per hydrant
for prevailing wage work, the rate that must be paid when federal funds are used. The
contractors price was far below the others.
Also bidding were: Leeward Construction Inc., Honesdale, $1,195 and $1,495; Pioneer
Construction, Sturges, $1,655 and $2,125; ARTC Corp., Blakely, $973 and $1,227; Kriger
Construction Inc., Dickson City, $1,100 and $1,315; and Fabcor Corp., Jessup, $1,232 for
each.
Mr. Padavan said Linde can offer such a low price because it uses almost an
assembly-line technique. He added that Linde, in recent years, has installed hydrants as a
contractor for Pennsylvania-American Water Co. on Penn Avenue and in Green Ridge.
Deputy Fire Chief Terry Osborne, who is overseeing the hydrant replacement, said he was
thrilled with the price. He said the city may decide to remove older hydrants not now on
the list to get ahead.
Thats under even any indication we had from the water company, he said of the price.
The fire department had already identified about 80 hydrants that must be replaced.
Deputy Chief Osborne said the number of 150 is being used just to ensure that whatever
number is found will be replaced. He added that another hydrant on Meadow Avenue was put
on the list over the weekend after it was hit by a car.
Deputy Chief Osborne did not have an estimate for the total job, but expected that
about 50 hydrants would be done in low- to moderate-income areas with federal money at the
higher rate. He said the city now has 92 hydrants in stock. It will have to buy more at
roughly $570 per hydrant.
The deputy chief said that on Sunday firefighters checked about 60 hydrants. Of that
number, he said, about 15 were put back into service.
The remainder will be looked at again by hydrant inspector Joseph Perrotti, who will
either fix them or have them replaced.
The two priority areas are West Park Avenue in West Scranton and North Washington
Avenue in Green Ridge because both include a stretch with numerous bad hydrants, he said.
He said the hydrants on West Park are being done by Pennsylvania-American. The water
company normally does all hydrant replacements, but the city decided to hire a contractor
for the current situation because the utility could not do the work fast enough.
Deputy Chief Osborne said the West Park hydrants were started by Pennsylvania-American
on Friday and may already be completed. |
