The Kunkletown Volunteer Fire Company held a bid opening at 4 p.m. Tuesday for a four-bay garage it wants to build.

The bids were for a proposed 40-by-68-foot building that will be erected at the end of the upper parking lot against a bank. It will need a retaining wall.Currently, most of the firetrucks are kept in a garage under the social hall."When we start the trucks or have the trucks running, the fumes come into the social hall, and that's not good when there are people here for a function. We also need storage space. We presented the idea to the township supervisors, and they thought it was a good idea, too," said Leon Frable, fire company vice president.He said this has been an ongoing proposal for the past six years.Thanks to a $300,000 grant from the Local Share, the garage can be built.James Pudleiner, senior project manager of Alfred Benesch & Company, Allentown, conducted the opening of the bids.The fire company received six bids for building/site construction. They were: Ashwood Enterprises, LLC of Danielsville, $348,390; CB Structures Inc. New Holland, $345,490; CMG of Easton, $365,800; L & K Construction Inc., Pottsville, $305,850; Leonard Borger, Kunkletown, $370,000; NuCor Management Inc. Pen Argyl, $364,000.Only one bid was submitted for the electrical construction, and that was from Frable & Son Electrical Services LLC, Palmerton, for $$31,961, and one bid for mechanical construction from Spotts Brothers Inc., Schuylkill Haven, $28,750.Members of the fire company board will study all the paperwork submitted and hope to award a contract June 16, and construction can begin right away."I hope it moves along smoothly," says fire company President Ray Miller.