A new fire station for the Albany Fire Department took another step forward last Friday afternoon, February 7, when construction bids on the new facility were opened at a council meeting held at Albany City Hall.

A total of eight contractors submitted bids on the project, along with two alternate projects if funds are available, including a third bay (alternate one) and four-foot high brick around the building (alternate two.)

The low bidder by far was Boils Construction Company of Albany, who submitted a base bid $536,000, with $31,000 on alternate one and $21,500 on alternate two.

The low bid was some $188,600 less than the second low bid of $724,600 submitted by Strehl Builders and $300,000 thousand above the high base bid that was submitted for $836,000.00.

The low bidder totals from Boils Construction, which was the only local bidder, is $588,500 on the construction and both alternate options.

Albany Mayor Nicky Smith said the building architects, Sewell and Sewell of Bowling Green, would now review the bids and make sure all the paperwork is in order, Following that process, the council will come back and award a bid on the project, possibly at a call meeting to be announced later.

The building is being constructed with a $500,000 grant and Mayor Smith said he didn’t know if the two alternate parts of the project would be affordable or not, but said each would be a good addition for the new fire station, to be located near the Wellness Center, to have included.