Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 15, 1995 TAG: 9504170053
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The number of bids and their prices were improvements on the first bid opening. On March 29, Montgomery County's finance director rejected a single, $2.37 million base bid from Breakell Construction as too high.
"This is better than I had feared it would be. I was afraid to come over here," quipped Library Board Chairwoman Nancy Hurst, who missed the bid opening by minutes because of heavy holiday traffic on U.S. 460.
As expected, the bids came in higher than originally planned before the November 1993 referendum, when voters approved $1.88 million in bonds for the expansion and renovation of the Blacksburg branch of the Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library.
At that time, construction was expected to cost $1.73 million, with the bond balance going to automation of the library's checkout system. The Library Board has since supplemented the construction fund with a $108,800 federal grant and plans for a local fund-raising drive.
Each bid includes six alternatives that could be either added or subtracted as cost permits. One of the cost savers could be relocating the Blacksburg branch - possibly to part of the former Kmart store in the Blacksburg Shopping Center on South Main Street - for the duration of construction. The Library Building Committee decided to keep that option open, though preliminary cost estimates make it appear there would be little savings.
Though one of the base bids is lower than the others, architect Richard Fitts said he could not recommend an official low bidder until an analysis of the alternatives is completed. The bidders and their rounded-up proposals, from apparent low bidder to apparent high bidder, were:
Martin Bros. Contractors Inc., a base bid of $2.02 million, or 16.5 percent higher than the original construction estimate of $1.73 million.
Avis Construction, a base bid of $2.09 million, or 21 percent higher than the base.
Thor Inc., a base bid of $2.11 million, or 22 percent above the '93 figure.
Breakell Construction, a base bid of $2.2 million, or 27 percent higher. In February, Breakell won the contract to build Montgomery County's new health and human services building in Christiansburg with a $2.78 million low bid.
Fitts and acting County Engineer Randall Bowling should complete an analysis of the bids by next week. After the county finance office agrees the bids all met the specifications, the two men will begin negotiating with the low bidder over ways to trim the cost.
"I hope we can do it without asking the county for any more money," Hurst said.
The Library Building Committee will meet again April 28 to go over a "shopping list" of possible cost-saving measures resulting from negotiations. The committee will make a recommendation to the Library Board, which would in turn make one to the Board of Supervisors. The supervisors would have the final say on accepting the low bid.
Groundbreaking on the project still is set for April 25.
by CNB