Contracts set for $2.6M highway garage in Malta

PHOTOGRAPHER: Stephen Williams

Work is expected to start within weeks on a new highway garage after the Town Board awarded nearly $2.6 million in construction contracts.

The board on Wednesday awarded the plumbing contract to Crisafulli Brothers of Albany after the original low bidder dropped out, Town Supervisor Paul Sausville said.

“They hope to get started on it this fall and work on it over the winter and finish it by late next spring,” Sausville said.

The town has approved a $2.8 million budget for the project with money for possible contingencies, taking most of it from reserves, fund balances and internal borrowing. Sausville said the town will be borrowing $680,000.

The other three construction contracts were awarded last week. Wainschaf Associates of Rensselaer will be the general contractor at a cost of $1.7 million, while Family Danz of Albany was awarded the mechanical contract and Flex Electric of Watervliet was awarded the electrical contract.

The new garage will be built on land within the town highway complex on Route 9, opposite the current garage. It will be a metal barn-style building with a brick veneer and five equipment storage bays. The facility will include room for doing vehicle maintenance and washing and will provide indoor storage for equipment.

The current main garage will become a secondary equipment storage building, but the highway department offices will remain there. Sausville said the new garage will have room for expansion.

Town Highway Superintendent Roger Crandall has said the new garage is needed, given the growth of the town highway system in recent years, including the addition of 5.5 miles of road in the Luther Forest Technology Campus.

A consultant hired by the town last year said the current town garage is overcrowded and unsafe, and forces the Highway Department to store about $1.3 million worth of equipment outdoors. It recommended a new garage be built.

The town in 2010 looked at, but ultimately rejected, the idea of moving the town highway complex out of the downtown area.