SOUTHWICK – The Town of Southwick is in the process of awarding a bid to Tighe & Bond to conduct a feasibility study for a municipal buildings project that involves having emergency infrastructure repairs done on the town’s municipal buildings.
Those buildings include the town hall, the fire department, the police department, the department of public works, and the town library.
The Southwick Public Library is one of the municipal buildings that is involved in the feasibility study. (WNG File Photo)
Tighe & Bond, an engineering firm that has an office in Westfield, will be signing an $85,000 contract to conduct the feasibility study.
One element of the infrastructure to be examined will be the roofs of structures that are approximately 20-years-old. A number of other aspects will include parking and driveway conditions, windows, gutters, emergency power generators, electrical conditions, lighting, and septic to name a few.
“Its purpose is to do an in-depth evaluation of all the important components of each structure,” said Town of Southwick Chief Procurement Officer Karl Stinehart.
It is important to evaluate each municipal building.
The Department of Public Works building is another piece of infrastructure involved in the study. (WNG File Photo)
“Each one of them has a different life span and each one of them is going to have different components that will need to be addressed,” said Stinehart.
On September 12, town officials conducted a tour of all the municipal buildings and it was also an opportunity for prospective contractors to look at the project.
The Pioneer Valley Planning Commission is consulting with the Town of Southwick for this study and developed the RFQ (Request for Quote), which was given to Tighe & Bond. A RFQ is different than a RFP (Request for Proposal) and a better option for the town of Southwick.
Once the contract with Tighe & Bond is officially in place, they will work with the town on creating a plan and schedule for the study. Stinehart doesn’t anticipate the actual repairs or work on the buildings to be complete in the near future but did add that once the feasibility study is complete, it will be used as an important planning document for future budgets for the Town of Southwick.
