Bids come in 10% under budget

GUILDERLAND — In the midst of fiscal crisis and budget cutbacks, a bright note was sounded Tuesday as the school board approved bids for a $27 million project that voters passed in November of 2007.

The bids came in under budget by about $2.1 million.

“It’s a very favorable bid market,” said Assistant Superintendent for Business Neil Sanders, declaring it “one good thing about the recession.”

He told The Enterprise that the money can be used to reduce debt payments.

The project will upgrade Guilderland’s five elementary schools, improve technology across the district, and move the district offices to the high school.

The first bids were awarded on March 5 so that work can be done over the upcoming April break, Sanders said. The high school phones will be replaced and asbestos will be removed from several schools.

The district received a total of 71 bids for 17 contracts, Sanders said. One remains, which the board will probably award in April, he said.

CSArch, Excel Engineering, and Sano-Rubin met and reviewed the bids and scope of work with each of the bidders that looked the lowest, Sanders said. Two bids were made in error. Rudley Lewis, senior project manager of Sano-Rubin Construction Services, told the board that faulty bids are made because of math errors or because the contractor could not actually perform the job. 

 Board Vice President John Dornbush said that, had the bids been properly written, the district wouldn’t have saved money, which Lewis said was correct.

“We brought in every contractor and went through all the requirements,” said Lewis, stating he felt confident the low bidders have included everything that is needed.

Alternates were included to give the district flexibility, Sanders said.

The board approved awarding the contracts to the lowest bidders, 8 to 0.

“It looks like we might save 10 percent on construction,” said board President Richard Weisz.

The board approved contracts totaling $16.6 million Tuesday, which included 12 alternates. The awarded contracts in round numbers went to:

—         Tri-Valley Plumbing & Heating for districtwide plumbing, $369,000;

—         Gallo General Contracting, Inc for general construction at the high school and Altamont Elementary, $3.4 million;

—         Gallo again for general construction at Westmere, Guilderland, Pine Bush, and Lynnwood elementary schools and Farnsworth Middle School, $1.9 million;

—         S & L Roofing & Sheetmetal, Inc. for roofing at the high school, $809,500;

—         S & L again for roofing at Altamont Elementary, $317,200;

—         WB Roofing & Sheetmetal, Inc. at Westmere Elementary, $666,800;

—         Monahan & Louglin, Inc. for roofing at Guilderland Elementary, $681,800;

—         Family Danz Heating & A/C, Inc. for mechanical work at the high school and Altamont Elementary, $1.7 million;

—         WJV Mechanical, Inc. for mechanical work at Westmere Elementary, $1.3 million;

—         DiGesare Mechanical, Inc. for mechanical work at Guilderland, Lynnwood, and Pine Bush elementary schools and Farnsworth Middle School, $1.6 million;

—         Schenectady Hardware & Electric Co., Inc. for electrical work at the high school and Altamont Elementary, $1.6 million;

—         Schenectady Hardware again for electrical work at Westmere Elementary, $672,000;

—         Schenectady Hardware again for electrical work at Guilderland Elementary and Farnsworth Middle School, $840,000; and

—         Brownell Electric Corp. for electrical work at Pine Bush and Lynnwood elementary schools, $809,000.