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Lincoln County board approves bids to remove overburden and rebuild Blanche football field
Summary
Board accepted a $123,120 low bid to remove construction overburden from Highland Rim site and a $404,217.17 bid to rebuild Blanche football field, with funding to come from project contingency funds; board members said delays and rising costs left few bidders.
The Lincoln County Board of Education on a voice and roll-call vote approved two construction bids the board said are necessary to keep ongoing school projects on schedule.
Board members accepted a $123,120 low bid to remove excess dirt and overburden from the Highland Rim school construction site and a $404,217.17 bid to rebuild the Blanche school football field, the board’s facilities staff reported.
The board’s facilities representative said the county had tried repeatedly to find contractors to haul the overburden and that the work must be done before paving begins after Memorial Day. He told the board his estimate had been $150,000 to $200,000 and that the site contains roughly 800 to 1,000 truckloads of material; the accepted low bid was $123,120.
On the Blanche field, facilities staff said the board has bid that project multiple times and received only a single qualified bid this round. The speaker told the board prior bids had been higher and attributed the change in available bidders to rising costs and the death or retirement of local contractors who previously bid the work.
Board Treasurer Jason Nicks said the board will use funds set aside in the project contingency (referred to in the meeting as a 1.77 fund and contingency line item) to pay for both contracts; he said the contingency balance will cover the amounts but leave little margin for other change orders. The facilities representative said the general contractor on the Highland Rim project provides a guaranteed maximum price (GMP) and the bids will be managed within that overall contract.
The motion to accept both bids was made by a board member and seconded; the board conducted a roll call. Recorded votes included: Phelps — yes; Ezell — yes; Tucker — yes; Miller — yes; Daniel — yes; Ashby — yes; Dunn — yes. The motion passed.
Board members who spoke in favor said delays in moving the material would halt paving and jeopardize the construction schedule, and they said they preferred to accept the present bids rather than re-bid in a market they described as shrinking for public work.
The board directed staff to notify the bidders and proceed with contracting and hauling so paving schedules can be met.
The finance staff said they will present updated contingency and project accounting to the board as work progresses.
