The village of Baldwinsville has awarded the bid for the Lock Street renovations to L&T Construction. The village’s Board of Trustees approved L&T’s bid of $733,190 at the Sept. 18 meeting. Village Engineer Steve Darcangelo said L&T could begin modifications of the street in early October.

“It’s a project that we’ve been very anxious to get underway,” Trustee Mark Wilder said.

Darcangelo said the Lock Street project goes “beyond restoration.” The village will replace the stormwater collection system, install permeable asphalt, create on-street parking and repair sidewalks and curbing. These components of the restoration fall under Onondaga County’s green infrastructure requirements for the “Save the Rain” grant.

Awarded to Baldwinsville in 2012, the Save the Rain grant will cover $490,000 of the cost. Save the Rain is an Onondaga County stormwater management initiative to reduce pollution in the Onondaga Lake watershed. The Seneca River is a tributary of the lake.

“They don’t often award this level of a grant,” Wilder said. Baldwinsville’s Save the Rain grant was the largest the county awarded in 2012.

The village has not yet determined how the remaining $243,190 of the project will be financed, but Baldwinsville may issue a $250,000 bond to cover the cost.

While the village hopes for work to begin in October, Darcangelo said the project is “weather-dependent” and won’t be finished until the spring of 2015. All in all, the work will take six to nine weeks.

“It’s wishful thinking to think it’ll be completed [this year],” he said.

Darcangelo acknowledged that the project will inconvenience residents on Lock Street, with increased dust, noise and traffic.

“Like any public works project, hopefully the inconvenience is short-term and the benefit is long-term,” he said.

Island wall repairs

The repairs being done to the gabion wall on Paper Mill Island may interfere with public access to the island, Darcangelo told the board.

Although he could not provide an exact cost, Darcangelo said the repairs could be around $70,000. He suggested the village consider a buildings and facilities reserve fund for such unexpected costs.

“What if we had something that was not an insurance claim but a building got damaged? How would we fund it?” Darcangelo said.

Aside from the cost, Darcangelo said the repairs may inconvenience the public, but hopefully would not affect the Sept. 27 Childhood Cancer Gone Country benefit concert, featuring national artist Craig Morgan.

“We’re going to have to work closely with [the concert promoters] to provide the venue they’re expecting,” Darcangelo said.

Darcangelo said many local residents take walks in the park on Paper Mill Island, but the village may have to close the park temporarily during these repairs.

“We hate to shut it down like that, but like any other construction site, if it becomes unsafe to the public, we might have to do that,” he said.

He said it may be another four weeks before the gabion wall is repaired.