$6.1 million insurance on Justice Center project OK’d
A $6.1 million insurance program for the ongoing Montgomery County Justice Center project was approved last week.
The roughly $415 million construction project is expected to break ground later this spring, according to Montgomery County Commissioners’ Chairwoman Valerie Arkoosh.
In her remarks during Thursday’s State of the County address, Arkoosh said the venture would include “a modern county justice center” with a consolidated
space for courtrooms, a “completely renovating the current courthouse facility” and reinventing “Hancock Square Park as an active and inviting, welcoming public park accessible to the entire community.”
The latest contract award formalized an agreement between the Montgomery County Department of Assets and Infrastructure and Alliant Insurance Services, Inc. of New York, N.Y.
According to the contract, the county’s assets and infrastructure department “requires payment of premiums for insurance policies comprising the owner-controlled insurance program (OCIP) wrap-up insurance for justice center project contractors over the five-year life of the project.”
It passed in a 2-1 vote with Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Gale opposing the matter.
In addition to the sevenfigure contract for the ongoing justice center project, the county’s elected officials authorized several other agreements totaling more than $359,000.
Of note, there was a $154,485.43 contract for vehicles for the Montgomery County District Attorney’s office. The agency used a contract from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s cooperative purchasing program to procure five vehicles from Apple Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram of Hanover, Pennsylvania, Apple Chevrolet of York, Pennsylvania, and Whitmoyer Ford of Mount Joy, Pennsylvania, according to the contract award.
In other business, the commissioners issued proclamations for Intellectual Disabilities Awareness Month and National Public Defenders Week.
Both were signed by Arkoosh and Montgomery County Commissioners’ Vice Chairman Ken Lawrence Jr. Gale’s name was absent from the documents.
When referring to the commendation for the county’s public defender’s office, Gale said he’d “like to apologize if my name does not appear on the proclamation due to colleagues’ pettiness.”
Neither Arkoosh nor Lawrence responded to Gale’s comment. Gale had criticized the omission of his name on county declarations on several previous occasions.
The next Montgomery County Board of Commissioners meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. on April 1.