Renovation work on Danville’s Laura Lee Fellowship House is planned in the near future.
Members of the city council’s Public Works Committee voted 6-1 Tuesday night, with Alderman Mike O’Kane in dissent, to approve a Community Development Block Grant in the amount of $130,000 for the house.
Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. says the improvements include replacing 20 windows as well as the building’s roof and doors on the north side of the building.
“It should be good to go for many years to come,” he says.
Logan Cronk, the city’s Grants and Planning Manager, said a contractor from Mahomet was the only person to bid on the project. The original cost would have been $162,000, but the contractor suggested more cost-saving methods which reduced the project bid by about $30,000.
O’Kane questioned the city’s bidding process, since only one bid came in and the city then worked with that person to reduce the bid amount. Cronk said in reply that local contractors were not interested in the project or were too busy. Mayor Williams said since the bid is public information, it wouldn’t be fair to repeat the process. City Engineer Sam Cole also says the nature of the work won’t change.
