At its workshop meeting Aug. 4, Coplay Borough Council reviewed Penn Bid documents for the proposed public works building, planned for property owned by the borough at 1 Bridge St.

The previous bid for the project hovered around $2.4 million. The borough’s budget for the project is $2 million. Although there was some discussion over the past few months about working with the low bidder, council decided to rebid the project.

The new low bid is $2.1 million.

Council discussed some ways to bring that number closer to budget.

One possible option discussed was to eliminate a loft planned for above the administration area. The loft was designed as a document storage area. After some discussion, however, there was concurrence among council the loft should stay.

Councilwoman Janet Eisenhauer will be handling the purse strings on this project, and she said she feels there is likely room in the budget for the additional cost.

Councilman Mark Molitoris expressed concern the $300,000 difference between the previous low bid and the new bid would need to be made up.

“I don’t want the borough to be in a position where we find out we need the items that were deleted and we are required to spend additional money we do not have,” he said.

Cost reductions in the new bid were made primarily by reducing some contingencies and transferring some work to the public works department.

The project is tight, and there is no room for hiccups during the construction process, it was noted.

Council will vote to approve the bid at its regular session Aug. 11.

Molitoris questioned moving forward too quickly because there are minor issues still outstanding on the loan documents.

“Council did vote to approve the loan, and we can expect the final negotiations between the borough and the developer will take some time,” council President Louis Bodish said. “I don’t think we will see a shovel in the ground until September or October. That should give us enough time to iron out the details on the loan.”

In other business, council questioned the progress of moving lights from Whitehall-Coplay School District’s athletic field to Balliet Stadium. The borough made the request for the lights, and WCSD approved the transfer. Councilman Rick Kern will follow up on information the borough received that the lights had been moved to Hokendauqua’s athletic field.

Police Chief Vincent Genovese proposed hiring part-time officers to fill schedule needs. The borough is looking to hire one full-time officer.