Special meeting to review City Hall bids today
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The City of Williamsport will hold a special public meeting today at 7 p.m. to discuss the bids received for the City Hall building.
Three bids were received for the purchase of the former City Hall at 245 W. Fourth St.
Bids under review are from JBAS Realty of Jessup for $555,500; $499,000 from Neil L. Felver, owner of Herbal Gifts of South Williamsport and $100,000 submitted by Tim Butters, of Williamsport.
The JBAS Realty plan indicates a ground floor public space and one-to two-bedroom apartments on the second and third floors.
Felver's proposal indicates he would upgrade exterior doors and do work to get the building removed from the condemnation status.
Felver's plan is to move Herbal Gifts manufacturing offices, shipping and finance operations into the first floor and possibly have a retail outlet. The second floor would consist of office and executive suites with the possibility of leasing store space.
Butters' plans were not specified, according to Pennlive.
Butters restored and continues to upgrade the former City Hall on Pine Street, which includes hotel rooms and The Newsroom Grill and Spirits Restaurant.
The bids will be reviewed by Fish Commercial Group, the administration of Mayor Derek Slaughter, and discussed today at the special meeting of council.
The building was condemned in September 2021 due to extensive water damage from a leaking roof in summer of 2021 and then sustained further water damage in December 2021 when hot water spilled out of heating system pipes.
There is an accessibility ramp on the West Fourth Street side of the building.
Slaughter said the city began the process of installing the ramp before the water damage. That was agreed to as part of a U.S. Middle District Court-ordered consent decree to meet Americans with Disabilities mandate.
An earlier engineering estimate to fully repair the building to code and meet all of the accessibility requirements was placed at $6 million.