City-powered renovation will save money

The City of Huntingburg will save considerable money on the Emergency Services building project by completing the renovation using city employees, rather than a contractor.

Huntingburg Power Utility Superintendent John Reutepohler told the Huntingburg Common Council he was taken back by the $190,000 quote to renovate the old (no one has been able to verify how old the building is) block building on North Van Buren housing the ambulance services in the city.

“I went over the quote line by line,” Reutepohler said. “I went to contractors and supply houses and have a rough estimate of my own.”

He told the council the city could complete the work for about $136,000 if he were to act as project manager and use his department’s employees as well as a water utility employee to complete the work. “I’ve got $13,000 built in for any unforeseen overages,” he said.

The renovation will be a needed upgrade to the building that was being used as a gas department storage area before the ambulance services moved in after St. Joseph Hospital closed in 2007. The move facilitated by then-Mayor Gail Kemp was supposed to be a temporary and imperfect fix to continue to provide ambulance services in Huntingburg and the surrounding area.

According to Ambulance Director Susan Henke, it was important to the city and to the county ambulance service to stay in Huntingburg where they respond to over 1,200 calls a year.

But the concrete block building is not properly weatherized to handle the heat and cold for the crews who are housed there for 24-hour shifts. Renovation plans began last year, when the city paid for an engineer to create designs for the renovation.

Ruetepohler stated he planned on following those engineered plans and by state statute, since the project cost is now less than $150,000, the city can complete the work using city resources.

The council did voice some concern over Reutepohler being the project manager as well as fulfilling his duties as the superintendent of his department but he assured them that unless it was an emergency, he and his employees could handle the extra duties.

The work will be completed during regular work hours.