MANCHESTER — The city is poised to select a contractor to build a fire station on Hackett Hill, but it still has to determine how it will fund the long-delayed project.

The city received nearly a dozen bids, and officials are set to meet this week with the contractor that submitted the lowest bid, Public Works Director Kevin Sheppard told an aldermen's committee Monday.

The Board of Mayor and Aldermen is expected to discuss the project and how it will be funded at their meeting at City Hall tonight at 7.

The moves come after years of delays on the Hackett Hill fire station, which the city had sought to have built through a deal with a private developer. Under the deal, the developer was to cover the cost of building the station in exchange for the surrounding city-owned land.

Sheppard said that a qualified contractor had submitted a bid of $2.27 million to build the station, about $10,000 less than the Facilities Division's budget estimate for the project.

“We feel it is a good bid,” Sheppard said. “We're going to be meeting with the contractor this week to go through (the proposal) and make sure there's no problem in the future.”

The total estimated cost for the project is $2.54 million, with close to $53,000 earmarked for construction administration and design and another $242,000 for city expenses and contingency costs.

This prompted Alderman Jim Roy, chairman of the Committee on Community Improvement, to ask why more architectural services were needed since the station had already been designed.

“We felt when this was turned back to the city, the responsible thing was to re-engage the architect,” Sheppard said.

The committee on Monday voted to recommend the full board support the Facilities Division's budget for the project, but chose not to support requests to provide funding for the project or to authorize the public works director to enter into a construction contract this month. Instead, the aldermen said they would let the full board address these issues.

When aldermen voted to put the project out to bid, they had hoped to see a groundbreaking in August.

The last time the project went out to bid was last spring, when Seaver Construction was selected with a bid of $2.46 million.

Richard Danais, the developer the city was working with on the station deal, was unable to get financing.

The city ended the station deal with Danais and is selling him the surrounding 123 acres for $2.6 million, payable over the next six years.

Construction will allow the city to replace a temporary station, opened in 1988, which was expected to last five years. Fire Chief James Burkush has said the temporary facility's roof is in danger of collapse during heavy snowfalls. The facility also lacks a generator, and firefighters and equipment must move if a major storm threatens electrical service.

tsiefer@unionleader.com