High South School construction bids cause committee members to worry
Published on December 9th, 1998
STONEHAM, MA -The bids are in and, if all checks out, the new South School will very shortly have a general contractor getting things underway.
The School Building Committee learned last Thurs-day night that AMG Construction of Stoughton was the low bidder for the South School rebuilding project. Pending research of the company's qualifications and references, which could take up to two weeks, Committee Chairman Dan Hogan is hopeful that the long-anticipated project will begin no later than the first of February.
With seven companies responding to the request for proposals, AMG's low bid for constructing a new South School on Summer Street, came in at $7,219,000. Separate pricing for three add alternates was also submitted, and AMG again came in lowest.
Add alternates are those items which are not included in the base bids, but designated as desirable depending on budget feasibility. They are listed in order of desirability and, if it is decided to include any or all of the add alternates into the project, they must be taken in order of their listing.
Designated add alternates for the South School project, as determined by the committee, are playground equipment (at AMG's bid of $80,000), plantings in the form of trees and shrubs ($84,000), and full air conditioning ($97,000). The base bid already includes partial air conditioning for the building.
According to Duncan McClelland, representative from the project's architectural firm Earl R. Flansburgh & Associates, the bid spread was a tight one, ranging from $7,219,000 to $7,374,000. That, he said, was a good sign.
"They're the ones unless there is something negative that comes up," said McClelland of AMG.
The low bid, however, is approximately $200,000 over the present budget.
McClelland explained that the original estimate for the project, last year, was $7,337,000 which included a $1 million parking garage. With subsequent acquisition of three abutting residential properties by the town, the need for that garage was eliminated.
Added to the design instead, however, was a new playground area, parking lot and stairs that would accommodate the additional space gained from the land acquisition. With a four percent inflation factor built in, the revised cost estimate was $7,020,000.
The last review of costs in September yielded an increase of the total project cost estimate up to $7,151,306.
Cost estimates for the add alternates were substantially lower than bids received, at $34,000, $23,000, and $29,000 respectively for playground equipment, plantings and full air conditioning.
"Our cost estimator did not do very well," McClelland admitted with regard to the alternates.
With the bids over estimate, committee members discussed areas where savings might be realized in order to keep the entire cost in line with budget. Primarily, it considered the inflation savings on the building of the Colonial Park School.
Originally spread out over a period of 8-10 years, the school rebuilding project, which has been granted state approval for 63 percent reimbursement, now looks as though it could be completed in a significantly shorter time span. The state has listed Stoneham schools on its recently published reimbursement list at a higher priority than anticipated.
According to McClelland, if the Colonial Park School, the last of the schools to be addressed in the project, is built two years earlier than originally planned, the escalation factor could be reduced by as much as $760,000.
Committee Vice Chairman Ron Fiore questioned McClelland on possible additional or hidden costs that the project might entail.
"The only issue that could come up is if there is a redesign," replied McClelland, perhaps due to unforeseen site conditions.
Following discussion on the value of the add alternates, the majority voted in favor of including all three into the project scope.
"I feel strongly that we should at least go with number one, (playground equipment) because that will be used seven days a week," said committee member Tom Barry.
Fiore stated he was in favor of taking add alternate number two (plantings) as well, since it would not be advantageous to "have a barren site when we're done."
Committee member Al Prior called the air conditioning bid a tremendous price and cautioned the committee that the construction market would boom as long as there was the Big Dig project going on in Boston.
"I don't see a downturn in the next five to ten years based on the Central Artery," he said. He advised taking advantage of this pricing, projecting that it will climb in the future.
The committee unanimously voted to reject the low sub-bidder on elevator installation based on questions regarding that company's qualifications. Atlas Elevator did not meet the criteria outlined in the bid specifications, including number of years in business and number of demonstrated, completed projects.
With only four months in business, the committee found reason to reject that low bid and, instead, went with the next lowest bid submitted by Beckwith-Delta, whose bid was approximately $7,000 higher than Atlas'.
Committee member Dave Gardner voiced his support in going with the higher bid from Beckwith-Delta, stating "You're talking about a major safety issue."
With the committee required to award the contract within 30 days of the bid submission deadline, a vote of approval was cast for acceptance of AMG Construction's bid, contingent on the architect's investigation of qualifications and references.
Once the general contractor starts, the estimated demolition and construction time is 16 months.
"I think we've given ourselves enough lead time to have the school open in September of 2000," stated Hogan.
The School Committee must also vote on the contract award and will be asked to do so at their next meeting on December 10.
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