The bid opening for the new firehouse, originally scheduled for July 2, has been postponed until July 8 because bidders needed additional details and asked for an extension.
Two meetings were held in recent weeks to allow prospective bidders to assess the scope of the project. “We were pleased,” First Selectman Matt Riiska told his Board of Selectmen at their regular monthly meeting Wednesday. “Three or four contractors showed up.”
The firehouse construction has been estimated at $9.3 million, including soft costs for such things as a contingency fund, but Riiska said the town’s project manager, Newfield Construction, “is confident we will get a good outcome.”
He said Newfield is basing its prediction of lower bids on decreased volatility in the market. “We’ve gone through the estimation process three times, and the current market has stabilized,” Riiska said. “And the way we will have it built has been streamlined to make it less expensive.”
The Firehouse Committee decided to eliminate a standing seam metal roof and replace it with asphalt shingles for a savings of $302,000; to replace bi-fold doors with standard overhead doors, saving $361,000; to remove a so-called roof monitor that would provide additional light and ventilation, saving $40,500; to eliminate a boardwalk from Shepard Road to City Meadow and leave it as a lighted gravel path, saving $55,000; to reduce the amount of stone flagging around the building to save $26,000, and to eliminate solar panels on the roof for another $115,000.
The committee also trimmed back expectations for an equipment storage building to save $275,000, for a total saving of $1,117,000.
“If the price comes in where we want it to, and we feel we can add back, we will add the metal roof because there is much more longevity with metal and it allows solar panels,” Riiska said.
The plan must go back to the Planning and Zoning Commission to approve the cost-saving modifications, but Riiska does not anticipate any problems.