Borough to spend $468,500 for improvements to upper park

It will cost Lehighton $468,500 to dress up its upper park.

On a 5-0 vote at a special meeting on Thursday, borough council agreed to award a contract to Kobalt Construction Inc. Councilmen Joe Flickinger and Darryl Arner were absent.

The bid breakdown consists of the following:

• The base bid, which includes removing existing concrete sidewalk and asphalt, installing Erosion & Sedimentation controls, asphalt paving, concrete sidewalk, concrete curb, and pads, topsoil, excavation and backfill for all electrical conduit and light bases, and all other site work, $398,000.

• Removal of asphalt paving, and installation of bluestone pavers and replace all inlets west of the amphitheater seating area, $94,000.

• Remove and replace concrete sidewalk on the east side of the municipal building (parallel to Constitution Avenue), $26,000.

• Allowance of 200 square feet of concrete sidewalk, $3,000.

• Allowance of 50 linear feet of concrete curb, $2,500.

• A deduction to remove the excavation and backfill for all electrical conduit and light bases from the scope of work, $55,000.

Borough Manager Nicole Beckett told council the project “is very complicated.”

Councilwoman Autumn Abelovsky said she believes the project will be well worth it, especially for how frequently the upper park and amphitheater are used.

“I think it’s needed,” Abelovsky said. “I just would like to see it done all at one shot.”

Beckett concurred with Abelovsky, saying that the park is the face of the community.

Councilman Donnie Rehrig thanked Beckett for her diligence with the project.

Beckett noted that she’s had some help along the way.

“We’ve had a dedicated team,” she said.

Earlier this month, Beckett said that due to the layout of the upper park and amphitheater area, the project comes with complexities.

She said heavy equipment will need to enter in the amphitheater area for excavating and may require hand-digging, while logistics will need to be figured out in order to have a concrete truck in the amphitheater area.

Last month, council rejected the lone proposal of $633,000 it received from Kobalt Construction Inc., which was also the project coordinator for the borough’s refurbished downtown park.

The borough received funding in the amount of $350,000 from the Commonwealth Financing Authority for improvements to the park, which is used for concerts, movies and other community events.

That includes $150,000 that was received from the Greenways, Trails and Recreation Program for improvements to the Upper Park Amphitheater, as well as $200,000 from the Multimodal Transportation Funds for streetscape and pedestrian improvements to the streets around the upper park.