Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties

Aging unit moves closer to new roof

By RYAN JARVI

[email protected]

Hurley - The Aging Unit of Iron County is seeking a new roof for its senior center building in Hurley and opened the six sealed project bids it received from contractors during its board of directors meeting on Thursday.

A contractor was not picked for the project, but the board has narrowed it down to two, and is seeking further information from a third.

The Building and Property Committee will review the two bids and seek out information from the third, and will then make a recommendation to the board of directors.

"Nothing's official," said Mary Kay Welch, executive director of the aging unit.

"They strictly went on a dollar amount, now they're going to find out if the contractors meet the specifications."

The building committee will discuss the bids shortly and the board of directors is considering holding a special meeting or making the bid selection through emails or a telephone conference, Welch said.

"We want it this year," she said of the new roof. "We want to get the bid picked as soon as possible."

Welch said she was "pleasantly surprised" with many of the bids, which were for both shingled and metal roofs. Bids came from companies in Ashland, Wis., Iron County and Ironwood.

The average bid for metal roofs was about $25,000, and the average for a shingled roof was $23,750.

The Aging Unit is also seeking donations for the project, Welch said.

Interested individuals can make checks payable to the Aging Unit of Iron County and drop them off or mail them to the site building in Hurley.