Carbon County is gearing up for an 18-month, multimillion dollar renovation project of its historic courthouse.

On Thursday, the board of commissioners opened bids for four contracts for the renovations to the nearly 130-year-old building. The bids came in through PennBid, an online bidding platform used for projects throughout the state.

There was some confusion during the reading of the bids, which included general contractor, mechanical, electrical and plumbing contracts, due to the breakdown of bids on the online platform.

Initially, the bid totals from all 11 companies bidding for the project were read for the general contractor contract, however, it was determined after the meeting that only one of the 11 companies bid on that contract.

CMG of Easton Inc. submitted a bid of $1,605,000 for general construction services.

For the mechanical contract, two companies submitted bids. JBM Mechanical Inc. submitted the low bid of $2,020,000; while Myco Mechanical Inc. submitted a bid of $2,065,000.

For the electrical contract, five companies bid on the project. The lowest bidder was G.R. Noto Electrical Construction Inc., with a bid of $1,072,500. Other bids ranged from $1.22 million to $1.56 million.

For the plumbing contract, five companies also bid on the project. The lowest bidder was JBM Mechanical, with a bid of $348,000. Other bids ranged from $447,000 to $987,654.

The board of commissioners then tabled all bids for three weeks to allow for time to review all bids and determine if they meet all specifications, as well as are the lowest bidder. If the bids stand at the current lowest bidders, the anticipated cost for the renovation would be just over $5 million, minus any change orders.

However, Commissioner Rocky Ahner also made an alternate motion because he said that he wasn’t happy to see that there were addendums and change orders already happening before the contracts were even awarded.

He cited one change order that could cost about $75,000, which was not in the initial bid specs.

He suggested that all final architect drawings and specifications be submitted to the county chief administrator prior to the bids being awarded so that it can be verified that what the companies bid on were what was included in the scope of work that was being bid on.

“I want to make sure that we have the appropriate plans for the work that’s being done,” Ahner said.

Tony Ganguzza of Boyle Construction, the architect for the project, said that how the company handled it was that everything was uploaded to PennBid and then there were five addendums, which also were added to the files for the contractors.

“The contractors have the plans, the documents and five addendums that were issued to them,” Ganguzza said. “They all have the same information.”

Commissioner Chris Lukasevich said that this will be taken into consideration during the bid review.

Ahner pointed out that he saw one addendum had drawing not available, so he really wants to see the final drawings to make sure what was bid is what is in the final drawings.

Ganguzza said that there are contingency funds in the budget for the project in case some unforeseen issue comes up. Ahner said he didn’t really think it was acceptable because the county was paying Boyle Construction hundreds of thousands of dollars so he feels like plans should be looked at closely.

He said that change orders on projects happen all the time, however it is happening more frequently than it should.

“I just need the appropriate drawings and everybody that is awarded these bids know what they are getting into,” Ahner said. “And I want it documented.

“... We’re working on a building that was built in the 1800s. This isn’t some kind of standard building. ... I just need the documentation on what is in the scope of work before the award. That’s the bottom line.”

Carbon County has been working on the courthouse renovation project since early 2022, when they hired Boyle Construction for professional construction management services.

The project includes interior renovations to upgrade electrical systems, HVAC, plumbing and shift around a few offices. It will not change the aesthetic of the historic appearance of the building.

The estimated start date for the project is in October.

Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein said some offices may be temporarily relocated during the construction, however that will be determined later.

He added that there will also need to be a complete shutdown of the courthouse for a few days for part of the electrical work.