Times Observer file photo Rehabilitation work on the Clark Street Parking Garage will begin this fall after the City Council awarded the bid on the project during a special meeting Monday.

City officials have selected a contractor for repairs to the Clark Street Parking Garage, with work expected to start this fall.

During a special meeting Monday, council members approved Pullman, a Pittsburgh company, as the contractor for a $3.3 million rehabilitation project of the parking garage. The amount is slightly more than the project approved by the council earlier this year, but Warren City Council members chose to add a $200,000 contingency fund for the project. There was a bit of debate among the council members over the contingency fund, but all council members approved of the amended project total.

Councilwoman Wendy McCain asked why a special meeting was called for the bid approval since the council had met the week before.

“We’re just because it’s already August,” said Mike Holtz, city manager. “We’re trying to get the work done. Also, some of the grants are expiring.”

Mayor Dave Wortman said the project’s $3.3 million cost is more than half covered by grant funding. The Clark Street garage has several floors. The top floor isn’t rented because snow can’t be removed. Total capacity in the garage is 644 spaces, with 471 considered rentable and 316 rented. There are also 47 metered spaces and five spaces that can’t be rented because of rust problems. Evan Rowles, a principal at Atlantic Engineering Services in Pittsburgh, told council members that the plan is for a roughly 100-day construction schedule that splits the project into the fall/early winter and then next spring. Construction is expected to be completed by June 30, which would meet the deadline for the expiring grant funding.

“None of the contractors balked at that schedule,” Rowles said.

Coating work needs to be done in the warmer months while concrete repairs needed in the parking garage can take place through the end of December and even into the end of January. Rowles said he has had discussions with Pullman about the schedule, and the company is considering sequencing work so that some levels may be finished before the end of 2025 with the rest of the project finishing in the spring.

McCain also asked about whether or not the construction would affect those who currently pay to park in the Clark Street Parking Garage. Rowles said that shouldn’t be a problem because there are enough spaces unrented to be able to move lease parkers around areas undergoing reconstruction.

“So as we engage them in discussions about schedule, we will vet all of that with them and the specifics of that will be established to maintain the serviceability of the garage through the winter and make sure that there’s no adverse impact on the parking due to the construction work,” Rowles said.

A chunk of the meeting was also spent talking about the future of the Clark Street Parking Garage. Council members had decided earlier that the $3 million project was the one that the city could best afford. Rowles reiterated to the council that the garage’s useful life has probably been extended another 10 years with the current project.

“So we are in for the intermediate term in a 5- to 10-year life cycle,” Rowles said. “More than likely realistically closer to that 10-year life cycle. Now, that’s not to say it’s going to fall apart in 10 years. That’s when we expect to see perhaps some additional damage rearing its ugly head. You’re dealing with a parking garage that’s saturated

with chlorides from long-term use. You’ve seen even from the previous renovation that the garage has undergone

additional deterioration. Unless we were able to tear the slabs out completely and replace them, that’s kind of where we’re at. So, we are extending the life of the garage in that 10-year time frame. That’s plus or minus. It could go longer, could go less.”