Posted on August 27, 2017
By William F. Galvin, The Cape and Chronicle
The Saquatucket Harbor waterside dredging and reconstruction project will be moving forward this fall, but no decision has been made at this point on whether the town will proceed with the landside project based on the bids opened last week.
Selectmen on Monday night voted to award the waterside reconstruction project to BTT Marine Construction of East Boston, the low bidder. In doing so, selectmen also agreed to allow two of the three alternates in the bid specifications to be included in the project. Those alternates provide for additional dredging and the use of tropical hardwood decking.
Boater will have to leave the marina by Oct. 15 so the waterside project can begin.
BTT Marine was the low base bidder at $6,826,852 and the Robert B. Our Company of Harwich was second lowest at $6,997,770. Town Administrator Christopher Clark said he received a letter from the Our Company urging the town to examine whether BTT Marine is considered a responsible and eligible bidder under the conditions of the bid specifications.
“We did our due diligence and checked BTT’s credentials and I’m satisfied,” Clark said.
Harbormaster John Rendon concurred, stating officials reached out to owners and engineers that worked with BTT and there was nothing but good things said about the company.
With the additional dredging, the $7 million project will have a $70,000 contingency fund. Clark said with the Our Company bid there would only be a $2,000 contingency. He praised the experience the town has had with the Our Company on projects at Wychmere and Allen harbors, but said there was no way he could recommend awarding a bid with just a $2,000 contingency.
Rendon recommended $100,000 from the $7 million appropriation be applied to dredging. He said 15,000 cubic yards of material were included in the base bid, but there was another 2,100 c.y. as an alternative. With docks and piles removed for the project, it’s the perfect time to do the additional dredging, he said.
He recommended an additional $100,000 come from the harbor department’s dredge fund, supported each year in town meeting, to pay for the additional dredging. Rendon pointed out town dredge projects generate funds when sand is sold to private property owners. Selectmen concurred with the request.
The second alternate sought $75,000 for the use of tropical hardwood decking instead of yellow pine. Tropical hardwood is more durable, will last twice as long as pressure treated Southern yellow pine and has a much better appearance, Rendon said.
Funding the hardwood option can come through the waterways improvement and maintenance fund, he said. Money generated through mooring fees will cover the additional expense. He pointed out the funding plan for the work also calls for $80,000 a year from this fund to be directed to the project’s debt service.
Rendon said $6 million in funding for the project will be paid by boaters. Clark urged selectmen to move forward, saying time is running out under the $1 million Seaport Economic Council grant approved for the project more than a year ago.
Board of Selectmen Chairman Michael MacAskill wanted if the harbormaster department would be coming in next year to replace the $100,000 from the dredge account. Clark assured the board they would not.
With that, Selectman Larry Ballantine put forward a motion to award the contract to BTT Marine and to provide the two contingency alternates for dredging and the use of hardwood. A third alternate for a de-icer system was not included. Rendon said the system in place now could be used.
Whether the landside harbor project moves forward as planned this fall remains unclear. Town officials opened four bids for the work and Rendon said they were on “the high side.”
The low bidder was Eastward Companies of Chatham with a base bid of $2,797,338 and a bid of $385,426 for the one option to construct a snack shack. Base bids ranged up to $4,125,000 and $426,000 for the snack shack.
The problem facing the town is that with the snack shack option, all four bids are over the $3 million approved by voters for the project. The estimate provided by the architectural firm that designed the facilities, Brown Lindquist Fenuccio & Raber, was $3.5 million.
“I need to evaluate it and meet with the town administrator and plan the way forward,” Rendon said.
The town had hoped to receive a $500,000 Coastal Resilience Program grant from Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management, but officials learned last week they were not awarded the grant. The project received a $187,500 Coastal Resilience Program grant for the design phase.
Given the high estimate on the cost, the town decided to go out for three separate bids for the project, separating the septic system and site work from the initial bid. The town has yet to seek those bids, which Rendon said would be issued once the building projects were nearing completion.
The plan was to begin the landside project by mid-September and hopefully conclude the work by next year’s boating season. But no decision has been made at this time on how to move forward.
“The docks have always been the top priority and hopefully we’ll get the landside done as well,” Rendon said. “We always have to stay optimistic.”
Source: The Cape and Chronicle
