City Council is considering all options on staying or leaving City Hall and making repairs it considers to be a priority.

Millions of dollars are at stake and latest internal estimates of what it may cost to address current building deficiencies now are in that monetary range, said Council President Randall J. Allison.

“It certainly makes this all a front-and-center concern,” he said ahead of a Sept. 26 review by council on about $650,000 of improvements eyed for the aging building.

The bid openings took place earlier this week and involved about six contractors. The bids are for a ramp, elevator modification and security improvements on the first floor along with limited access doors similar to what’s in the police department, said David Witmer, on-site construction manager with Reynolds Construction Management Inc., the Harrisburg-based firm that handles the construction projects for the city administration.

The underlying issue isn’t that the budgeted money must be used on these projects, because it is borrowed bond-related funds, according to Councilwoman Bonnie Katz, chair of the public works committee. The most pressing issue is what Allison has been hammered home for the rest of council.

“There are many decisions that need to be made in the near future and those include how much money absolutely needs to be spent on City Hall repairs now and the larger issue that affects those repairs, that being should we stay in the current building or move to a facility better suited for a 21st century government operation,” Allison said.

“Council is considering all options,” he added.

The bids were broken down into three sections: General construction with work associated with elevator upgrades; elevator construction and electrical.

The companies bidding were: JC Orr and TurnKey Construction on the general construction; Port Elevator and Otis, for elevator construction and RC Shuman Electric and TRA Electric for electrical work.

All bids came in around what was projected, and it will be council’s decision to proceed with all of them as a package, some, or none of them, said William E. Nichols Jr., city finance director.