By MADDY VITALE
The Ocean City Housing Authority awarded a $243,000 contract Tuesday to install a new roof on Bayview Manor as part of a series of improvements to the affordable housing complex for seniors.
During the authority’s monthly meeting, which was held by teleconference because of social distancing requirements during the coronavirus outbreak, the board approved the contract for Winchester Roofing Corporation, of Gibbsboro, N.J., for the roofing project.
Ron Miller, asset manager-operations at the authority, said six bids were received on Thursday and Winchester was the lowest bidder.
“They met all of the requirements and are being recommended for the award,” Miller said. “We will issue a notice to proceed. It is a 90-day project to complete.”
Authority Chairman Bob Barr, who is also president of City Council, asked how long it would be before the project begins at Bayview Manor, located at Sixth Street and West Avenue.
Jacqueline Jones, the authority's executive director, explained that it would start “relatively quickly, within the next couple of weeks.”
Work is also being done to replace the old electrical panels in the individual apartments.
In addition to the roof and the electrical panels, the authority is also replacing fire alarm systems at Bayview Manor.
Initially, the installation of a new fire alarm system was scheduled to be done during the upcoming roof work, but needed to be fast-tracked due to false alarms going off, according to the minutes from the August meeting.
The estimated cost to replace the fire alarm system is $143,500. Of that amount, $63,450 will be reimbursed to the authority by the city.
Construction on Speitel Commons is underway and will be completed in 2021. (Rendering courtesy of Haley Donovan architectural firm)
Both Jones and Miller noted that the fire alarm project is on schedule and should be completed by the end of the month.
“Significant progress has been made on the alarm system,” Miller said during the meeting. “The fire alarm systems remain active and the contractors expect to finish in the next two weeks.”
The authority has also been busy with the project to construct 32 units of affordable housing for seniors in the Speitel Commons complex being built next to Bayview Manor.
The project began May 1 and is expected to take about 12 months to complete. Speitel Commons is named in honor of the late Edmond C. Speitel Sr., a housing authority commissioner who helped to oversee the new project from the conceptual phase.
Miller said the concrete for the top deck of the project's parking garage has been completed. The building itself will be built on top of the parking garage.
