Council authorizes manager to negotiate early school construction contracts totaling about $29.97 million

The East Greenwich Town Council voted 5-0 Sept. 8 to authorize the town manager to review, negotiate and, subject to solicitor review, execute contracts and guaranteed maximum price agreements for an early bid package of the town's school construction project totaling $29,972,641 and to fund the work from the town's school construction bond proceeds.

Town Manager Andrew Nada and Consigli Construction project executive Corey Pinero led an extended presentation at the meeting describing the early bid package (Bid Package 2) that covers site work, concrete, structural steel and air handler units for East Greenwich High School, Frenchtown Elementary and Hannaford Elementary. Pinero said the direct trade cost for the 12 scope elements across the three schools is "just under $27,000,000," with roughly $3,000,000 in indirect costs, for a total just under $30,000,000.

Nada and the construction team described a multi-step procurement process: a pre-bid meeting and site tours, issuance of 60% construction documents, receipt of more than 50 subcontractor bids across the three primary schools, scope reviews, and final negotiations. Project staff reported approximately $700,000 in bid-day savings from the last estimate and additional value-management savings of roughly $1,000,000 identified at a working-group meeting the same day.

Consigli and the town emphasized project risks and mitigation measures. The team described a 5% owner's contingency held outside the construction manager's numbers to address risks such as tariffs, soil remediation and subcontractor performance. Pinero said statewide tariff exposure across comparable projects tends to be "about a 1 to 2% impact on your overall project cost," and identified structural steel as the largest tariff risk for this scope. Town staff said the school construction committee and working group had reviewed the packages and recommended advancing the early contracts to preserve the January 2026 mobilization date.

The resolution authorizes the manager to negotiate and execute contracts with Consigli for the early bid package and requires the manager to return to the council for final approval if individual GMPs exceed $29,972,641. The council voted to approve the resolution 5-0.