Construction of new Emergency Management Office now over $6 million

County accepts $1.5 million electrical bid for project after $4.8 million in bids approved in April

File photo by Tom Rivers: The current emergency management office was built as an early 1960s bomb shelter. It has a leaking roof and a shortage of space.

ALBION – The Orleans County Legislature has accepted a $1.5 million electrical bid, the last piece for a new Emergency Management Office.

The Legislature on April 28 accepted three bids for nearly $5 million for the project: $3,931,000 for general construction by the Watson Construction Group Inc. of Albion; $360,000 for plumbing/fire protection by McGrain Mechanical of Rochester; and $547,500 to McGrain Mechanical of Rochester for HVAC.

An electrical bid was approved on Tuesday for $1,525,000 from the Watson Construction Group Inc. of Albion.

That puts the total construction expense at $6,363,500.

The new building will be one-story and 7,700 square feet. It was downsized from a proposal for a 17,000-square-foot building. Initially county officials sought a new building that was 11,000 square feet for offices and classrooms, and another 5,600 square feet for equipment storage. That complex would have topped $12 million.

The county has been awarded a $2 million federal grant secured by U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Congresswoman Claudia Tenney.

The new building will be west of the current structure that is about 3,000 square feet. Most of the current EMO building is underground and is prone to flooding after heavy rains. It isn’t handicapped accessible and is tight on space. County officials eventually want to have that building demolished but that isn’t part of the construction bids.

The new building will include offices for the EMO’s three full-time staff, a classroom for training for firefighters and other first responders, and space to have the backup 911 dispatch system.