NORWICH – Two city committees are reviewing proposals for the demolition of condemned houses and the engineering and/or construction of replacement structures.
The work is funded, in part, by a $300,000 Restore New York Grant the city received in January.
City of Norwich Planning and Community Development Specialist Todd Dreyer recently informed members of the Finance/Personnel and Public Safety/Public Works committees that he had received proposals from Burrell’s Excavating, Gary Brightman and Chenango Engineering for the work.
The proposals focused on the property located at 52 Fair St. The current structure, which was condemned after a fire several years ago, will be demolished. Burrell’s submitted a proposal listing the cost of demolition and the removal of materials at $9,800. Dreyer explained that while the city’s policy is to seek at least two proposals, Burrell’s was the only proposal received for the demolition phase of the project.
“I anticipate an award of contract to Burrell’s will be made at Tuesday’s meeting of the Common Council,” Dreyer said.
Instead of building a new house on the Fair Street lot, the city has been negotiating with the Chenango Valley Home to purchase an existing house located on its property. The former Rice home, located at 16 Canasawacta St., is one property now owned by the Chenango Valley Home, and if the building cannot be moved off the site, it will have to be demolished in order to make additional room. While negotiations have been made, the city will have to make a formal purchase offer for the property before the deal is complete.
Chenango Engineering presented a proposal for engineering services in the moving of the home. The committee passed a motion to recommend council approval of both proposals. While Chenango Engineering will provide services for the moving of the home, the actual move will have to go to bid, and Dreyer anticipated the cost to be approximately $65,000.
The committee also received a proposal from Gary Brightman. Brightman proposed he act as the general contractor for the project. Since the project will not immediately require a contractor, no action was taken on Brightman’s proposal.
Dreyer explained that while the city was eager to get the project started, several items had to be completed before demolition could actually begin. He explained that the fire department is planning to do some training at the Fair Street property and photo documentation would have to be provided to the State Historic Preservation Office before the project could move forward. “I anticipate demolition will begin in early spring,” Dreyer said.
Other properties included in the Restore New York Grant are 23 Grove Ave., a house that has been boarded up for nearly 30 years, and a mobile home located at 7 Waite St. On those sites, stick built or modular homes will replace the current structures.