Commission approves $550,191 contract for Bellido Bridge rehabilitation; adopts budget amendment

The Town Commission voted Dec. 2 to award the Bellido Bridge Rehabilitation Project to Southern Road and Bridge LLC for $550,191 and adopted a budget amendment to fund the work.

Skender Coma from the Town Manager’s Office told commissioners the engineer’s estimate was $270,000, but bids returned at approximately $581,000, $615,000 and $697,000. After best-and-final negotiations, staff recommended Southern Road and Bridge (not the lowest bidder) based on references and experience; Coma said staff secured a roughly 10% reduction from Southern’s initial price.

Commissioners asked whether contingency and budget allowances were sufficient; staff said capital and underspent accounts from the prior year could absorb the increase and that future budget documents will reflect the project. The commission adopted Resolution 2025-028 to appropriate general‑fund dollars and then voted to authorize the mayor to execute the contract.

Vote: the motion to award the contract and authorize execution carried with recorded affirmative votes by Commissioner Goldberg, Commissioner Peters, Vice Mayor Stern and Mayor Moore (unanimous among those voting; no nays recorded in the transcript). The commission also noted an agenda typographical inconsistency in the resolution number (agenda listed 029 while the resolution text was 028) and corrected the record.

Next steps: staff will coordinate with the selected contractor and the town’s oversight engineer to schedule construction shortly after the holidays and to manage procurement contingencies and traffic maintenance during work.