Keyport plans to readvertise for new borough hall bids Eight first-round bids too steep, officials decide

Keyport plans to readvertise
for new borough hall bids
Eight first-round bids too steep,
officials decide

It’s back to the bidding process for the new Keyport municipal building.

After the lowest bid was challenged earlier this month, the mayor and council decided that all of the construction bids were too high a price for the town to pay.

At last week’s council meeting, the decision was unanimous to put the project up for bid a second time.

"This sort of situation isn’t typical, but not at all uncommon either," said Keyport Mayor Kevin Graham.

Eight builders submitted bids, but the lowest bid was challenged by the second lowest bidder, and project architect Ned Gaunt and Borough Attorney Gordon Litwin said the matter warranted further investigation.

After looking into it, the mayor and council decided it would be best to readvertise for bids since all eight bids exceeded the borough’s $3.2 million budget by a minimum of 14 percent anyway.

Ralph D’Aires, West Orange, offered the lowest bid — $3,497,000. The second lowest bidder, and challenger of D’Aires’ price, was Seacoast Builders Corp., Freehold, who offered to do the job for $3,677,000. Seacoast claimed that D’Aires’ bid was not in compliance with the Public Work Contract or Registration Act requirements and did not list a steel subcontractor, factors that they felt, had the builder complied with, would bring the price up.

Had the borough attorney found that Seacoast’s claims were substantiated, D’Aires’ bid would have been disqualified. Yet none of this turned out to be of any consequence because, despite the scrutiny, all bids were rejected.

Both D’Aires and Seacoast representatives were present at last week’s council meeting. According to the mayor, although both understood what was being done and why, neither had any comment on the decision.

"Before we go out to bid again, we’ll need to talk with the architect to see if the project can be scaled down without compromising the essentials of the building," said Mayor Graham. Graham continued to say that he was hopeful for as many bids as possible, the reason being that "the more bids there are, the more competition that’s created, and competition encourages builders to keep costs at a minimum."

In a memo to the mayor and council dated Aug. 17, Councilman John Merla cited his own concerns over what he called anticipated project costs. He claimed that available funds for the project amounted to a total of $2,850,000 and that when the project was brought to the forefront "three years ago, the price tag was much lower" than the estimated $3.2 million it’s slated for now.

Merla is proposing that when the project is put out for bid again, it be presented to builders as an entire project (with costs cut) or that all components that comprise the project be bid on separately, such as structure, plumbing, electric, etc. Merla feels that the town could cut costs substantially by separating bidding in this manner.

Graham said that the next step is to analyze the architect’s recommendations, if any, at the next council meeting in September. If changes are, indeed, recommended, then the building specifications will be altered accordingly in preparation for the next bidding. After the altered specifications meet with council’s approval, the project will again go out to bid. If there are no spec changes, then the council will authorize the borough administrator to readvertise and solicit new bids immediately.

Either way, Graham said he’d still "like to see the project break ground this fall for sure."

The two-story building will be the construction on West Front Street, around the corner from the present Main Street borough hall.

Much of the first floor will be devoted to the police department, with a court/public meeting room at the center. Borough offices will be on the second floor.

The courtroom in the present borough hall is on the second floor and only accessible by stairs, so council meetings are presently held at the Keyport Senior Center. The building also has other deficiencies.