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Jonestown Borough Council heard a new set of bids for the playground improvement project at the George H. Kaufman Community Park at their regular meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 5, and opted to defer a decision to next month while they consider the proposals.
The borough requested bids for the project earlier this year, but only received one proposal and rejected it due to the $120,899 price tag coming in significantly over budget.
Read More: Jonestown Borough postpones park improvement project until spring 2024
Engineer Lee Strause had said that the high bid and lack of other bids were likely because the playground project was put out late into the year and most companies already had a full workload. As a result, the borough opted to rebid the project to be completed in the summer of 2024.
This time, the borough received three bids. The lowest was for $61,936.
As the bid still comes in slightly higher than budgeted, the council has opted not to make an immediate decision and review its options before next month’s meeting. The borough has 60 days to accept or reject bids.
The council also unanimously approved the final budget for 2024, which includes no tax increases for the year.
Both expected revenues and expenses total $512,716.78.
In other news, the council:
- Unanimously agreed to adopt Ordinance 2023-3 renewing the Comcast Cable Franchise Agreement.
- Expressed willingness to work with a resident on a project to place banners honoring veterans on poles through the borough.
- Unanimously agreed to spend $100 to submit an LSA County Grant application.
- Unanimously agreed to spend $350 toward a grant application for the Peyton Walker Foundation to purchase an AED for the borough.
- Unanimously agreed to purchase a Smart TV for the conference room, not to exceed $1,000.
- Unanimously agreed to cancel the Dec. 26 workshop, as no items need discussed at that time.
Jonestown Borough Council meets at 6:30 p.m. the first Tuesday of each month at 295 S. Mill St. These meetings are open to the public and do not require prior registration.
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