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Street Repaving Bids Rejected
(posted 7.28.09)
The Speedway Town Council rejected all bids for the 2009 street resurfacing project at its July 27 meeting due to HNTB's under estimation of the project's cost.
The $140,000 estimate led the town not to conduct a common construction
wage rate hearing, which is required when projects cost $150,000 or more.
The lowest bid was from Shelly & Sands Inc at $154,960.
Town Manager Barbara Lawrence recommended conducting a wage rate hearing
and starting the bidding process again. Lawrence did not expect the town
to incur any additional cost from HNTB because of the error.
HNTB's engineering estimate for the 2006 Dry Run Ditch project was also
lower than the bids received, so those bids were rejected. The project
was delayed until last year.
The council also voted to award the sidewalk project to E & J Concrete
for $100,887. The lowest bid by Artistic Concrete Construction at $88,000
was rejected because the company could not meet the 90 day construction
time line due to their limited number of employees. The project will repair
the sidewalks along Beeler Street. The project was 30% less than the engineer's
of estimate $132,000.
Lawrence will also present more information about creating a public safety
department at the August 24 meeting. Her report said it would be "uncommon"
to have a public safety department, noting only Indianapolis has one, out
of 28 cites and towns in Indiana that she examined. She said that North
Manchester disbanded its department due to "political" and "internal
reasons."
"It is not the norm in the State of Indiana," she said, adding
that it does not mean it is right or wrong. She said Texas and Michigan
were also looked by her assistant, Betsy Combs, who conducted the research
through internet and phone calls.
"Were there more detailed questions than we see here?" President
Eileen Fisher asked. Fisher said she would like to see 10 to 15 questions
asked.
Lawrence responded that she would send out survey questions to those towns
that responded to her initial inquiry.
Lawrence's second report did not involve any discussions about costs to
create a public safety department. The $525,000 located in town manager's
budget will not be used for funding the department if created. Lawrence
explained the money is not for her or her assistant's compensation, but
the additional money was aside to help fund public safety for police and
fire. She said the fire and police contract negotiations were not finalized
during 2009 budget.
"At the same time we were considering the budget, we were negotiating the police and fire contracts. Since negotiations and budget weren't quite on the same schedule, we wanted to be certain that it was captured in the budget for planning purposes, but weren't certain of the final costs, allocation among police, fire, salary, overtime, benefits, pension, etc. etc." She does not plan for the money to be in the 2010 budget if the 2010 contracts negotiations are completed by budget time.
Lawrence explained her compensation comes from sewer and water; and the newly hired assistant to the town manager's office is paid from the cumulative capital development fund.
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