FARMINGTON — Selectmen Tuesday night, May 11, awarded bids for summer paving and two police cruisers.
The $159,140 bid estimate from All-States Construction Inc. of Richmond for reclamation and paving was approved.
Other bids and the companies submitting them were $170,955 from Pike Industries Inc. of Fairfield, $226,529 St. Laurent and Son Inc. of Lewiston, $172,156 Maine-ly Paving Services LLC of Canaan and $168,442 Spencer Group Paving LLC of Turner.
Several roads are to be paved this summer in Farmington. Included are Perkins, Lincoln and a portion of Quebec street as well as Osborn and Titcomb Hill roads. Google Maps screen capture
Five streets were included in the bid specifications. Lincoln and Perkins streets and the portion of Quebec street parallel to those streets are to be paved. An approximately 2,300 foot section of Osborn road will be reclaimed and paved while about 8,765 feet of Titcomb Hill Road will be paved.
“Upper Quebec near the Mallett School seems to be in good condition,” Town Manager Richard Davis wrote in an email prior to the meeting. “The plan for Osborn Road is to only replace the paved section that is failing. The gravel section is in really good condition.”
Titcomb Hill Road will be done in two phases, 8,765 feet in 2021 and the same for 2022, he continued.
Maine-ly Paving submitted bids averaging $772 less for each for the shorter streets in town, however All-States bid was $15,334 lower for the longer roads.
Public Works Director Philip Hutchins recommended All-States as “the lowest responsive, responsible bidder.”
“I think we can do all of this, it depends on what we get for bids on the High Street project,” Davis said during the meeting. “We’re lucky we got five bidders this year, some were lower than last year.”
There are various parts, three mixes used, which is why bid tabulations were provided, he said.
According to the tabulation, the total pave program costs are estimated by the projected scope of work with approximate units based on the amount of paver laid and depth of reclaim.
Selectman Stephan Bunker asked if it was appropriate to choose the best overall bid.
“Yes,” Davis replied. He thought it made sense to have one contractor do the whole project.
“All-State did a good job two years ago,” Hutchins said. There may be some additional construction needed on Osborn that won’t be known until it is reclaimed, he noted when asked.
Selectmen also awarded the bid for two police cruisers to Quirk Ford of Augusta. The 2020 Ford SUVs are road ready, priced at $69,516. Up-fitting costs of $9,986 bring the total price to $79,142.
Bids were solicited to replace two of the department’s oldest cruisers, 2013 and 2014 Interceptor sedans, Police Chief Kenneth Charles wrote in an email to the board last week. Bids were sent to five Ford dealerships with three bids from two submitted, he wrote.
Hight Ford proposed $65,539 for two 2021 models in stock with up-fitting costs of $20,576.50 for $86.115.50 total.
Quirk also offered 2021 models that wouldn’t be available for 20-25 weeks. The cost for those was $59,417.84 with $20,576.50 for up-fitting, totaling $79,994.34.
The department budgeted $42,500 for a cruiser purchase this year, Charles wrote. $36,642 from the Police Vehicle Reserve account would be used to cover the total cost of purchasing and upfitting, he noted.
“The 2020s come with some equipment already installed,” Deputy Chief Shane Cote said. Next year one car will be bought, we need one and a half per year as explained in the budget process, he noted.
“The 2013 has a maintenance issue that will be fairly expensive to fix,” Cote said. “The 2014 has the highest mileage on it.”
The department has one sedan it purchased, the rest are from the state surplus program, he said. Some things from sedans can be reclaimed but nothing fits in the SUVs and sedans aren’t made anymore, he noted.
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