By JAIME STUDD

For the Express

PERTH — Town officials are expected to move forward this week with plans to build a new town highway garage.

Having received voter approval in the November referendum, Perth town Supervisor Greg Fagan said he is in the process of collecting the necessary documentation from Passero Associates, the engineering firm hired to design the new facility, and hopes to be able to present them to the full board Thursday during its regular monthly meeting.

“I believe that we’re going to have to activate the second portion of our contract with the engineer in order to get what we need to have to go out to bid,” Fagan said. “The board would like to go out to bid, so that we can see what prices come in and also, at the same time, to search out ways to finance it.”

Fagan explained that the contract between the town and Passero is comprised of two stages. The first stage, now complete, involved preliminary designs of the building and cost estimate, which allowed the board to make an informed decision when debating whether or not to move forward with the project.

Fagan said he has been communicating regularly with Passero in order to fulfill the second phase of the contract, which features detailed designs.

“We narrowed it down to building style, what type of heating systems and things like that we were gonna have in there, and now, to go to bid with it, you have to have the next step, which is the actual design plans for contractors to use to develop their bids,” said Fagan. “I’m in the process of getting that stuff together for our next board meeting.”

Councilman Walter Kowalczyk said he is anticipating officially sending the project out for bids on Thursday night.

“Once we got the OK from the people, our plans are now to go for the bid,” said Kowalczyk. “ All we gotta do now is put together the bid.”

“He’s (Fagan) supposed to have it all ready for us,” Kowalczyk added.

The 77,000-square-foot proposed facility would easily accommodate all of the town’s equipment, with room to spare. It would also meet all Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations.

Town officials say the new structure is needed because the current facility, originally built in 1968, is outdated and the town has outgrown the space.

Though voters approved the proposal to bond the project in an amount not to exceed $600,000, Fagan has repeatedly said that he would prefer exploring other funding options. Following November’s vote, Fagan said that the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development loan program and various applicable grants are also being investigated as possible sources of funding.