By ROBIN SHANNON

Staff Reporter

LAPLACE – St. John Parish administrators announced Tuesday that they have received base and alternate bids from contractors for construction of the parish’s new animal shelter.

St. John Director of Purchasing Brenda Labat submitted the bids to the St. John Council during the council’s finance committee meeting. All of the bids came in above the $600,000 budget the parish previously set.

Labat said the parish received four bids total. Three of the bids came from contracting firms located within Louisiana. The fourth came from a company with base operations in New York.

St. John Spokesperson Buddy Boe said each firm submitted a base bid for minimum shelter specifications, and three alternate bids that add different features outside of the main shelter building. Although he didn’t have specifics, Boe said the alternate bids added things like extra parking, kennel space, and other features.

According to the bid tabulation sheet, Aegis Construction of LaPlace submitted a base bid of $746,200, the lowest of the four. The high bid came from AME Disaster Recovery Services of Norco, who submitted a $1.1 million bid for base construction. Additional bids came from Pete Vicari General Contractors of Marrero, who submitted a $900,000 bid, and Catco Contractors of New York, who bid $757,400 for construction.

The final design for the shelter calls for an 8,000 square foot facility that will include office space, grooming rooms, feeding areas, spay and neutering rooms, and lots of holding space. It would also include a comprehensive system of sewerage and drainage, as well as various fresh air intake components.

Boe said the decision is now in the hands of the council, who will take the bids under advisement. He said a bid should be awarded by the next St. John Council meeting, scheduled for July 8 in Edgard. He said the council and the administration are meeting with the architects early next week to determine which course of action the parish will take.

Boe said the parish hopes to break ground on the shelter by the end of July, with a grand opening in October of 2008.