The Middletown School Building Committee on July 30 voted to recommend multiple trade awards for Valley Elementary and the Middletown Middle/High School; the School Committee then approved those recommendations via its consent agenda.
Justin (owner’s representative) presented the bids and recommendations from Colliers and Bentley, and the building committee moved and voted on each recommendation during the meeting. For Valley Elementary the committee recommended awards to Northeast Steel Structures for miscellaneous metals ($65,523); JD Cement for concrete ($37,180) with alternates 3 and 4 held; Woodcraft Millwork for millwork ($118,000); and Advantage Glass for glass and glazing ($34,200). The committee noted limited bidder response on some packages and that the Advantage Glass award was about $14,700 above the 60% construction documents (CD) budget.
At the middle/high school the committee recommended awards including Excel Construction Corporation (interim cleaning and general carpentry, $2,200,000); H Carr & Sons (acoustical ceilings, $1,554,800); Rugeri Brothers (carpet and resilient flooring, $1,750,000); HSI Construction (specialties, $959,000) — a higher-priced bidder selected in part for high WBE participation — Excel Construction (toilet partitions and accessories, $283,496); and Northeast Interior Systems (manufactured casework, $1,758,000). Several package recommendations included MBE/WBE participation percentages reported by Colliers/Gilbane (examples: H Carr & Sons 20.13% MBE, 9.9% WBE; Rugeri Brothers 13.71% WBE; Northeast Interior Systems 10% MBE).
Committee members asked follow-up questions about bidding competition, alternates, and minority/women-owned business participation. The building committee approved each recommendation and forwarded them to the School Committee consent agenda; the School Committee then approved the consent agenda without roll-call detail. The record shows motions and seconds for each recommendation and verbal “aye” votes leading to outcomes recorded as approved.
Decisions recorded were recommendations to award named trade contracts and the School Committee’s consent approval. Discussion elements that were not formal actions included explanations that some packages received only one or two bids, reasons a bidder was recommended despite not being lowest (to meet WBE/MBE goals), and that some alternates were being held for later decision or pricing (for example alternates to renovate toilet rooms and new elevator were described as held for pricing).
Committee staff said full bid packages, alternate logs and the conformed contract documents will be folded into the final conformed set, which the team expects to issue before final guaranteed maximum price (GMP) work and further buyout confirmations.