GUILDERLAND — At its board meeting on Tuesday night, the town board unanimously passed a resolution to approve the Guilderland Center Pedestrian Safety Sidewalk Construction Project.

The project, which will cost a total of nearly $700,000, and be 80-percent funded by federal grants, will install sidewalks on the south side of Route 146 from the Guilderland Center Nursing Home to just before Depot Road.

The grant, said Supervisor Kenneth Runion, is from the Marchiselli Highway Improvement Program, which is financed by federal funds with a requirement for state and local governments to share in the costs.

Through the program, the town will pay for the project up-front, but will be reimbursed for all but 20-percent of the cost. The town’s 20-percent share, which will come from the general fund, will be roughly $146,000.

Bids were awarded, two weeks ago, to Peter Luizzi and Brothers Construction Inc., for $430,176.60, and to Creighton Manning Engineering, for $117,500.

The bids for construction started as high as $670,000, said Runion; the bid from Peter Luizzi was the lowest the town received.

Tuesday’s resolution with the state’s Department of Transportation, said Runion, confirms for the DOT that the town has the funds available to pay for the project.

One of the stipulations of the grant, the supervisor said, is that the project be completed by September 2015. He expects that it will begin in the spring and be finished by the summer.

The bills for the work, Runion said, will be paid by the town and then submitted to the state’s DOT, which will reimburse Guilderland within approximately three weeks of the bill’s payment.

Other business

At the town board meeting on Oct. 7, board members voted unanimously to:

• Release escrow in the amount of $82,000 for completion of construction work on Twenty West, a housing development, as recommended by the town designated engineer;
• Grant a private lane request for a single drive serving Schoolhouse Road, to be known as Dexter Lane;
• Authorize the supervisor to sign a collector’s warrant for the Guilderland Water District;
• Authorize the police department to auction abandoned surplus and property;
• Cancel the Oct. 21 town board meeting; and,
• Schedule a public hearing for the 2015 town budget for Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m.