Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Procurement Infrastructure topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Staff recommends rejecting single bid for downtown alley project and rebidding after redesign
Summary
City staff told the council they received one bid for downtown alleyway improvements that was higher than expected and recommended rejecting it, revising the project scope and coordination with utilities, and rebidding within about a month to six weeks.
Justin Carter, the city’s director of the design and construction group, told the Wilmington City Council that the downtown alley improvements project drew only one bid and that bid was higher than anticipated. Carter said staff recommended rejecting that bid, revising the solicitation and project details, coordinating with utility providers and then reissuing the work to attract more competitive proposals.
The council had moved C1 on the consent agenda for discussion after a member noted the Municipal Services District Advisory Committee had requested alley upgrades. Carter said staff extended the initial solicitation once but still received a single response. He recommended rejecting the bid to allow staff to make changes — for example providing a staging area and removing items deemed unnecessary — that they expect will reduce costs and encourage more bidders.
Carter described the scope of the project as infrastructure-first work in three alleys (Quint’s, Henderson and Wilkerson): repairing or replacing the pavement base, repairing historic brick surfacing, moving overhead utilities underground where feasible, and improving storm drainage to protect building foundations. “The number one thing that really affects our infrastructure in a negative way is water. Water, water, water,” Carter said, arguing that better drainage will lengthen street life and help building owners.
He also said the city had coordinated with CFPUA; that utility authority told staff it would line certain water and sanitary sewer pipes rather than fully replace them. Carter said that reduced excavation depth should lower construction cost and that CFPUA had indicated a willingness to reimburse a portion of costs tied to its work. Staff estimated it would take about a month to six weeks to make the changes and reissue the project for bids.
The agenda included numerous other items (ordinances on background checks and fiscal-year 2026 appropriations, bond issuance, fee schedule amendments, street acceptances, a $12,011 supplemental appropriation for Cando Street improvements, speed-limit ordinances and resolutions urging NCDOT action and supporting state legislation and Navy Week), but these were listed by the chair and were not debated in detail during the session recorded in the transcript.
No formal vote on C1 or other listed ordinance/resolution items appears in the transcript. The council adjourned and an Appointments Committee meeting was scheduled to follow.
