Treñas to seek consultant's advice over plan to buy building for city hall
City Mayor Jerry Treñas will seek the advice of Architect William Coscolluela relative to the idea of buying the four-story UEC Building in J.M. Basa-Mapa streets instead of the original plan of putting up a seven-story building for a new city hall.
Coscolluela is the city's consultant for the construction of the proposed city hall project.
Treñas said Coscolluela's recommendation can be used as basis in their decision-making. The mayor will meet with members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod and other key officials of the city government this week.
Originally, the plan is to construct an eight-story city hall building as contained in the memorandum of agreement between the city government and the Land Bank of the Philippines where the P350 million budget for the project was loaned.
Treñas said the expenses to be incurred in buying and renovating the UEC Building vis-a-vis the proposed construction of a seven-storey building will be compared. The proposed selling price for the UEC building is P50 million.
The idea to purchase an existing building for a city hall arose after no contractor expressed intention to bid even in the initial stages of construction. The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) headed by Atty. Edgar Gil declared two failed biddings in board piling works which amounted to P59 million. The former contractor for the board piling works backed out from the contract and asked for some P13 million to P15 million additional contract price.
The chief executive said they could not exercise the negotiated contract with the bidder in a much higher price compared in the approved cost provided by the BAC. The city will have to adhere on the approved cost and could not go beyond what is allowed, he said.