Posted on September 4, 2017
By Mary Markos, Gloucester Times
The town will have to push off dredging Mill Pond for a year after five bids for the work exceeded the town’s $600,000 budget for the project.
After a first round of bids, with three proposals, came in too high for consideration, the town sought more, with five contractors submitting bids for dredging Mill Pond and related work.
“This being the second time around in restructuring the bid, we were hoping for a better result. We got better numbers but it’s still not low enough,” said Public Works director Joe Parisi after opening the bids.
Dredging was projected to start in October if the bids came in within the DPW budget allowance of $600,000.
“There are different means and methods that could be used for dredging the pond,” Parisi said.
The base bid spelled out the plans for primary work to be accomplished by a contractor: site preparation for the dredging, which includes fencing, an access road and traffic management, and disposal of the sediment once it’s taken out of the pond.
Six alternate plans – projects that are less urgent – would cost additional if it the town wanted to add them. The first and second alternates are associated with work at Mill Pond while alternates three through six are regarding Frog Pond in the lower meadow.
“We tried to prioritize in it the way that made the most sense,” Parisi said. “We couldn’t even get to the alternates though because of the base bid prices. We are getting closer but still it’s more money than what we have appropriated for dredging.”
Parisi is looking at how to move forward, potentially with another bid round, so work could begin in 2018.
“If there’s another way of structuring a bid that may be able to accomplish the same results for a lesser amount of money … I want to look at the plans and specifications to see if that’s possible,” Parisi said.
“We have options but we may want to see if there are ways to get additional funds, whether that be through the efforts of Millbrook Meadow Committee or other town appropriations that may become available for it.”
At Town Meeting on Monday, Sept. 11, the Millbrook Meadow Committee is seeking Community Preservation Act dollars to restore the meadow below the dam, which does not include Mill Pond. The Community Preservation Committee has voted to request a bond issue of $360,000 for the meadow restoration.
The meadow portion of the park’s restoration includes returning Mill Brook to a more natural stream course which will better handle flood conditions, and make it more suitable for wildlife, plant life, and people. The project will include building a new “wingwall” to improve flow of the brook under Beach Street to the ocean, as well as replacing aging or dead trees and plants, installing water and electrical service, dredging Frog Pond, planting a native shade garden, and installing a new children’s play area.
“Although we can’t start with the Mill Pond this fall, we really need to push ahead and get the meadow restored. Rockporters have been very generous in donating for this, and the Community Preservation Committee, the Conservation Commission and Public Works have been very helpful, so we need to get the meadow done,” said Millbrook Meadow Committee Chairman Sam Coulbourn.
Relocation of turtles to Loop Pond, scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 9, will not be necessary since dredging was delayed. Instead, children and adults are invented to help with or observe an inventory of the turtle population in Mill Pond from 9 a.m to noon at the Mill Dam.
Source: Gloucester Times
