BERLIN– Town officials approved bid documents for the demolition of some portions of the old processing plant at Heron Park.
The Berlin Town Council on Monday approved a request for proposals (RFP) for demolition of the middle portion of the old processing plant. The much-anticipated project could be done by April.
“I’m cheering over here,” Councilwoman Shaneka Nichols said.
After more than a year was spent negotiating with a developer who wanted to turn the old processing plant into a mixed-use project, the council this fall opted not to proceed. Instead, officials decided to take advantage of a $500,000 strategic demolition grant it received from the state in 2021 to knock down the derelict building.
Because costs have increased however, Andrew Welch of Davis, Bowen & Friedel Inc. made it clear in this week’s presentation of bid documents that it’s likely only a small portion of the building can be demolished with the grant funding.
Welch said his company performed an extensive site assessment, looking at things like condition, topographic surveys, reconnaissance photographs and the like, before developing the bid documents. That research led to the development of plans for the partial demolition of the giant structure.
“There aren’t a whole lot of plans and details for a demolition project but considering that it’s a partial demolition, we have developed details for how do you protect and close off portions of the building that are going to remain,” Welch said. “That’s always an important factor for any demolition.”
He said DBF developed details for the partial demolition and the safety and access needs associated with it as well as a specification book for bidding purposes. He said DBF had broken the project up into a base bid that would address demolition of the two sections of the existing structure in the worst condition and additional alternatives that could be added to the base bid. He said that way the town would be able to do more if the grant funding stretched far enough.
“That will give the town an opportunity to assign and select a base bid and then possibly add alternates to maximize their usage of the grant.,” he said.
According to Welch, DBF broke the old processing plant into eight segments, ranked from one to eight. One and two, which are located in the center of the building, are in the worst condition and so demolition of them is included in the base bid.
“They’re the lowest roof structure,” he said. “Area one is actually already partially collapsed.”
He said area two also has poor structural integrity.
“That is the base bid, along with removal of debris and cleaning of the site toward the west side of the project,” he said.
He said area three was in poor condition but the remaining sections of the structure were in fair condition.
“There are some add alternates in there for cleaning up those portions of the building,” he said. “Area eight, there’s a lot of wet insulation and collapsed ceilings though the structure there I’d say is in fairly good condition.”
Councilman Steve Green, who was one of several people who toured the site this fall, said he understood how bad sections one and two were but added that he thought the tour had revealed that section three should be demolished as well.
“I think we should do one, two and three, however if the grant monies are not there we may want to negotiate with the low bidder as to partial demolition or even reconstruction or reinforcement of area three,” Welch said. “There are some portions there we have a structural concern.”
Green asked if Welch thought the grant would allow the demolition of area three. Welch said demo costs ranged from $10-$15 a square foot.
“I think the monies are there for one, two and three but depending on the bidding environment that’s a tough call to make,” he said.
Mayor Zack Tyndall thanked DBF for providing a variety of options, knowing that the town was working within a limited grant budget.
Nichols agreed and said she was thrilled that it looked as if the town could make some progress with the grant funding.
“Grant funding doesn’t look preposterously out of the ballpark,” she said.
When asked about the timeline for the demolition, Welch said that if the bid documents were approved Monday and put out to contractors immediately, the work could potentially be complete by April. Welch said the town should allow about four weeks for the bidding process.
“There’ll be questions that come in,” he said.
He said it would likely be eight weeks before the town awarded a bid. At that point, the selected contractor will have 90 days to complete the work. Staff said that timeline would mean work could be complete in April.
Green noted that the grant documents said the town’s demolition project needed to be complete by the end of June.
“It sounds like we might be within that ballpark,” Nichols said.
The council voted 4-0, with Councilman Jay Knerr absent, to approve the bid documents.