Main Street work pushed past July 4
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Project engineers questioning bids received April 15, which were more than $1 million over what was estimated, were said to be in the process of making formal recommendations to city officials.
The steep prices and what to do about them will lead to a definite delay, officials said, with some speculating bids may be rejected, although that option is not for certain.
Mayor Royce Davenport told members of the Streets and Sanitation Committee Tuesday night that city officials met with project engineers from EG&G and bidding contractors APAC and APEX at city hall earlier in the day.
Davenport briefed members of the Streets and Sanitation Committee and other city officials Tuesday night about the earlier meeting, and officials made a variety of suggestions of how to reduce costs.
Committee members did not take action on the bids but ultimately indicated early June construction would not occur as planned. They instructed the Parks and Recreation Department to plan for 4th of July activities, which will be held July 5, to take place downtown.
Davenport said after Tuesday night’s meetings officials got a better idea of why the bids were so high – roughly $4.8 million compared to the expectation of $3.5 million.
Reasons ranged from concerns about liability issues and public access to buildings during construction to questions about materials and procedural issues. In some cases, the bid specifications were interpreted differently than what city officials really wanted.
“We spent about an hour to an hour-and-a-half with them. Basically, what we did was sit there,” Davenport said of the Tuesday morning meeting with contractors. “The EG&G guys were asking questions and handled it real well. They didn’t make them mad and answered questions.
“All of them said up front, ‘This is not to reveal pricing and how you figured this. We’re just trying to find out what you were expecting when you bid these things. Were there some things that you were guessing at because you didn’t understand the specs?’ And in some cases, it was.”
As examples, he said there was a misunderstanding about colored concrete when the city really just wanted concrete of the same shade of white.
There were issues with TDOT about different types of material, equating to a difference of about $200,000. One bidder also thought a storm drain was necessary in relation to that misunderstanding, when it was not required, he said.
Asked if he believes the project is more manageable now, Davenport said he is hopeful.
“I have hopes that we’re going to do better on it. I don’t know that the things we found today will actually lower it over $1 million, but I think we found items that were mistakes or misunderstandings and over-estimates to the point that the price will drop several hundred thousand dollars,” he said. “If we get it close, we might be able to make it work. So that’s what we’re working toward.”
Total costs for the Main Street project, also called downtown revitalization or an economic development project, have been estimated at about $5 million.