Plan for $2M Pa. Public Safety Training Center Moving Ahead

July 29--TOWANDA -- Sixteen engineering firms are in the running for the job of designing Bradford County's planned $2 million training center for police officers, firefighters, and ambulance workers.

At the most recent meeting of the Bradford County commissioners, bids were opened that had been submitted by 15 engineering firms that wish to be chosen to do the work.

The bids ranged from a low of $7,500 to a high of $73,900.

The Bradford County commissioners, Bradford County Public Safety Director Robert Barnes, and Bradford County Chief Clerk Michelle Shedden will now review the bids, along with the associated paperwork that the companies had submitted to the county.

The commissioners will then select one of the firms.

Bradford County Commissioner Doug McLinko said that, for him, the price charged by the engineering firms will be but one of the factors he will consider when making his choice.

"Obviously price is important, but price is not going to be the determining factor in my decision," McLinko said. A firm's expertise, qualifications, and other evidence that they can do the job will be more important, he said.

The engineering firm that is hired will need to take a leadership role in planning the construction of the center, McLinko added.

Besides designing the training center, the engineering firm will need to provide a better cost estimate for the project and figure out if the center can fit on land that the county owns in West Burlington Township, he said.

The commissioners would prefer to use the West Burlington property, because the county would not have to buy land for the center.

Through the work of the engineering firm, the commissioners will find out if the county can afford to build the center, he said.

The commissioners want the training center to provide training for first responders from Bradford and other counties and they say they hope that local industries, including the gas industry, will also use the center as a training facility.

The commissioners plan to pay for the training center using revenue from the impact fee on gas drilling.

A 16th engineering firm, whose bid was not opened on at the meeting, will also be considered for the job, Bradford County Chief Clerk Michelle Shedden said.

Shedden explained that the zip code of the address to mail the bids to was incorrect on the second page of a document that the county had issued, which requested proposals from engineering firms interested in doing the work. The zip code was correct on the document's first page, she added.

As a result of the error, one engineering firm mailed in its bid using the wrong zip code, so the U.S. Postal Service returned the bid to the firm, and the firm was not able to submit its bid in time, Shedden said.

Because the error was the county's fault, the county must accept the bid from the 16th firm, Shedden said.

Among the facilities the training center needs to have are classroom space, a shooting range, a smokehouse, a site for vehicle extraction training and hazardous materials training, and facilities for training to rescue individuals from confined spaces, Barnes said.

In addition, the training center needs to have training facilities for gas-related emergencies, such as a simulated well pad and pipeline, he said.

The commissioners say the training center is needed in Bradford County because of the long distances that local first responders currently must travel to get their training.

James Loewenstein can be reached at (570) 265-1633; or email: [email protected].

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