Gary Board of Works gets busy on contracts

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GARY- In its longest meeting this year, the Board of Public Works and Safety paid bills, handed out contracts and approved a net savings for a major lakefront project.

The city’s planning department, now led by newly hired director Dwayne Williams, asked the board to approve a series of change orders related to the Marquette Park Lakefront East project, funded by a $28.4 million grant from the Regional Development Authority.

It’s the board’s responsibility to let out the contracts on the project.

Gary-based Powers and Sons submitted a change order that called for an extra $58,000 to be paid on their portion of the work, while Gariup Construction, also of Gary, submitted an order for an extra $40,767 worth of work.

But, Conservation Land Stewardship and Great Lakes Electrical Maintenance submitted changed orders giving the project a combined credit of $138,824 for their respective portions of the lakefront project, creating the net savings.

The board also approved a $200,000 contract for Professional Claims Management to be the third party administrator for the city’s self-insured medical and disability insurance plans, its life insurance offerings, prescription drugs coverage and COBRA plan.

Underwriters Safety and Claims, a division of the larger New York Marine and General Insurance Co., was awarded a maximum $91,292 contract to manage workers compensation claim for one year.

The board renewed a $7,500 Rinzer Williams III, who also holds a six-figure salary contract as the director of the Gary Sanitary District, to represent the city in code enforcement and similar claims, and it awarded a one-year, $25,000 contract to Inga Shannon-Lewis to represent Community Development.

The health department got the board’s approval on nine contracts totaling more than $92,000 to seven employees and a consultant to the city’s health department. The employees will work on a variety of programs, including the HIV/STD clinic, a bioterrorism response plan and a program to improve health in dozens homes throughout the city.

Finally, the board let out more than $115,000 in federal money for a wide ranging lead remediation program. Construction companies bid on the work, with payment coming from Community Development Block Grants.