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Library goes back for, city hopes, lower bid

Out of six companies to pick up construction plans, only one submitted a bid: $5.9-million, nearly double what the city budgeted.

By TAMARA EL-KHOURY
Published July 23, 2006

OLDSMAR - The City Council rejected the lone construction bid for a new library Tuesday and authorized the city manager to readvertise the contract with some modifications.

The reason? The sole bid of $5.9-million from Construction Technology Group Inc. was nearly double the $3.2-million that the city budgeted for the project.

The library, which will be built on the southeast corner of St. Petersburg Drive and Dartmouth Avenue, will replace one on State Street.

"We had six companies pick up plans, and we felt like all six or most of the six were going to bid," said John Mulvihill, director of public works.

When only one bid was received June 27, Mulvihill said, the remaining companies were contacted and asked why they didn't bid on the project.

Half said a bid deadline of 10 a.m. did not allow them to receive bids from subcontractors, who normally wait until right before deadline to provide estimates. And because some of the subcontractors are from the West Coast, a morning bid deadline on the East Coast was problematic.

"With prices fluctuating on materials so quickly and rapidly, the contractors tell us that in the morning of the bid, they try to lock in the prices," Mulvihill said.

In response, the city's public works department recommended changing the bid deadline to 2 p.m.

Representatives from most of the companies contacted said they would still be interested if the city decided to rebid the project.

The public works department has recommended other changes that could reduce the overall cost, including getting separate bids on some parts of the project and making them optional, depending on the final price.

Those parts include acoustical wall panels in the arcade, a cast-stone plinth exterior finish, colored concrete sidewalks and a Dura-Last roof system.

"Cast stone plinth exterior finish seemed to jack up the price," Mulvihill said.

The library, designed by St. Petersburg's Harvard Jolly Inc., will be 25,000 square feet, more than three times the size of the existing library. It includes space for a cafe or coffee shop and a screened-in outdoor reading room.

Officials said the reopening of the bid process would delay the project by a couple of months. Original plans called for the library to be completed about a year after the start of construction.

Even with some of the proposed changes, Mulvihill expects the new bids to come in higher than the $3.2-million budgeted, especially with the rising cost of construction materials.

[Last modified July 22, 2006, 20:02:11]