Oil City Council awarded a nearly $5 million contract Thursday for the upcoming major project on East Second Street.
S.E.T. Inc., based in Youngstown, Ohio, submitted the winning $4,749,231 bid for the work, Oil City manager Mark Schroyer said.
The project will involve replacing the road, sidewalks and water and sewer lines as well as installing curb ramps that are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act at every intersection along East Second from Wilson Avenue to Route 62, the area known as Buzzard’s Bend.
He noted the figure could end up being higher depending on what unknowns are encountered.
Schroyer said the work is anticipated to take three to six months beginning in mid to late April or early May.
The biggest issue with the project is the availability of materials, especially pipe and the associated pipe fittings, Schroyer said.
He noted that the project, which has been close to two years in the making, has already been delayed one year because of the volatility of the market and that decision has “served us well.”
“Depending on the availability of materials, this project may bleed into 2024. We hope it doesn’t,” Schroyer said. “The main thing we want to avoid is blowing open the street and not being able to get materials.”
He said a recent public meeting on the project was well attended by area businesses.
During the construction, Schroyer said businesses on East Second Street will still be accessible from Route 62 and other streets, though it will probably take people time to get used to the detours.
He noted that the contractors and the city will work with Stubler’s Drive-Thru to make sure delivery trucks can still get in and out of there during construction.
“There is no doubt this will be a major disruption for businesses and residents,” Schroyer said.
In other business at Thursday’s meeting, police chief Dave Ragon told council members he applied for a Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency grant and was awarded $399,868 of the $416,166 he requested.
The grant will be used for crisis intervention training for officers and various upgrades to equipment, Ragon said.
The crisis intervention training (CIT) equips officers for dealing with “out of control people” with mental health or addiction issues, Ragon said.
He added that so far, Oil City officer Joab Orr is the only officer in Venango County who has undergone the training and is certified.
The grant request also includes new radios, police helmets that are bullet proof, shotguns that shoot rubber bullets, and Panasonic Toughbooks and printers, laptops and portable printers for several of the newer police vehicles, Ragon said.
Ragon said he hasn’t received the funds yet and the deadline for spending the money is Dec. 30, 2023.
City resident Dave Riley addressed council about the many electric bicycles in the city that drive the wrong way down streets, don’t stop when they should, drive across the bridges on the sidewalk and otherwise don’t obey the rules of the road, causing problems for pedestrians.
Riley is an avid walker throughout the city.
Ragon said E-bikes are so new and have become so popular that he is still trying to find out how the laws apply to the bikes.
Ragon did note that E-bikes over 750 volts with speeds of more than 20 miles per hour are illegal in Pennsylvania. Cyclists over 10 years of age are required by law to ride on the streets, have lights on their bikes if they ride when it is dark and to stop at stop signs, he added.
In other matters, council accepted the retirement of Howard Faunce, the city’s director of public works.
Faunce, who has been with the city for 29 years, will retire April 14.
Council received a letter from East Seventh Street residents asking for the street to be considered for paving as the road has many potholes and is heavily used by both vehicles and children walking to and from school.
Schroyer said the first meeting of the paving committee will be Thursday morning, and all the petitions and letters regarding street paving requests have been collected for the meeting.
Council approved a proclamation that designated Thursday as Cinnamon Evans Day.
Evans, the longtime director of the Venango County Court Appointed Special Advocates program, recently retired.
Mayor Bill Moon recognized the late Libby Williams for her volunteerism and many contributions to Oil City, especially to the arts.
Williams died in December.
Kerri Baughman, a new employee in the utilities department, was introduced at the meeting.
And council approved hiring two new firefighters — Paul Johnson and Christopher Heusey.
