Commissioners take up prison project again

Blair reviewing two bids for security upgrades

HOLLIDAYSBURG -- Blair County leaders are reviewing two bids for security upgrades at the prison in response to its latest effort to address the delayed project.

County leaders have been interested -- at least since 2017 when setting aside money in a bond issue -- for replacing the prison's video surveillance system and adding security cameras, monitors, control devices and related devices.

Because of problems identified with previous bids, the proposed project has remained on hold.

Commissioners Laura Burke and Amy Webster, who convened Tuesday without Chairman Bruce Erb, agreed to have the latest bids undergo engineering and legal review.

Commissioners should be ready to take action on the bids within 30 days, County Administrator/Chief Clerk Nicole Hemminger said Tuesday.

The lower of the two bids came from Montgomery Technology Systems LLC of Greenville, Ala., at $1.37 million.

Westmoreland Electric Services LLC of Tarrs submitted a bid of $2.73 million for the same work.

While county leaders have talked about replacing and/or updating the county's aged prison on Mulberry Street, no firm plans have been developed. Late last year, commissioners awarded a contract to TranSystems Corp. Consultants of Pennsylvania, the successor to L. Robert Kimball & Associates of Ebensburg, to prepare a study expected to outline the efforts needed for building a new prison.

To pay for the study, the county accepted a $185,000 grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development, as announced in August by state Sen. Judy Ward, R-Blair.

For security improvements to the existing prison, the county's first set of bids, received in late 2021, ranged from $1.03 million to $2.23 million.

But the low bid of $1.03 million didn't include camera unit prices and the second lowest bid, at

$1.64 million, lacked a raised seal on its bid bond. Those shortcomings prompted commissioners to reject the bids and readvertise.

In May 2022, commissioners had bids ranging from $1.18 million to $2.19 million for the project. Those bids were rejected too, after commissioners learned that bidders hadn't received the same instructions on the use of substitute software during the installation process.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.