Bids For 5/6 School Come In Lower Than Expected

By Steve Bigham

Haynes Construction Company of Seymour this week became the leading candidate to build the proposed 5/6 school in Newtown after submitting the lowest bid among nine competing companies. Haynes has proposed to build the school for $22.1 million, nearly $4 million below projected costs.

Construction bids for the 5/6 school were opened during a public meeting at the Board of Education offices Monday afternoon.

The proposed 5/6 school is slated for construction at the site of Watertown Hall, along Wasserman Way on the campus of Fairfield Hills. Taxpayers are expected to approve the school at a town meeting in early June. The school – which would be open to just fifth and sixth graders – would help alleviate overcrowding at both the elementary schools and middle school.

School officials had anticipated the cost for construction and site work to be in the $26 million area, so Haynes’ bid came as a pleasant surprise. The overall estimated cost of $32 million to build the school has now been reduced to $28 million. That figure includes $6 million for the removal of hazardous materials and the demolition of Watertown Hall. Of that cost, the state of Connecticut will reimburse the town 33.93 percent.

“We’re very pleased with the results. We figured anything below $26 million would be good,” noted School Business Director Ron Bienkowski.

A slowdown in the economy may explain why eight of the nine bidders came in at $24 million or below. Newfield Construction ($24.6 million) and Bismark Construction ($24.5 million) were the two highest bidders.

Superintendent of Schools John R. Reed said the fact that the prices were clustered toward low end tends to validate Haynes’ bid.

“And it’s good news for town,” he said. “I think there were a couple of things that helped. First, the timing was good. School projects are bid at all times and we’re at a period where some of the other projects around the state were not as desirable. They were complicated renovation projects. Our architects [from Jeter, Cook & Jepson] worked hard to publicize this project. The site is a very clean site.”

This week, Haynes Construction remained the unofficial choice of the Board of Education until all the paperwork checked out. David Valerie of Strategic Building Solutions has been charged with conducting the background check.

“We still have to check references and make sure all the prices are correct. They need to submit a list of subcontractors within 48 hours,” Mr Bienkowski said.

Next week, the Public Building & Site Committee is slated to make a recommendation for hire, which will then be taken up by the Board of Education for a final vote to award the contract. From there, the issue heads to the Legislative Council for final approval.

Then, following town approval in June, school officials hope to sign a final construction contract. The school board was hoping to send an informational package out to council members late this week.

“If all goes well, construction would begin in July in order to get a good jump on things. We’d like to get the footings and steelwork in before winter and then work inside,” Mr Bienkowski said.

Haynes Construction has never done any municipal construction work in Newtown. Currently, it is building the 120-unit Kensington Green assisted facility in Southbury and has constructed schools in the towns of Farmington, Monroe and Avon.

Other bidders were P. Francini & Co of Derby ($22.7 million), Frank Mercede & Sons ($24.5 million), The Morganti Group of Danbury ($23.76 million), Tratoros Construction ($22.5 million), E&F/Walsh Building Company ($24 million) and Worth Construction of Bethel ($22.36 million).

The opening of the bids began at 2:15 pm. Among those in attendance were Dr Reed, Mr Bienkowski, Mr Valerie, Board of Ed Chair Elaine McClure, School Buildings & Ground Supervisor Dominic Posca, Legislative Council member Doug Brennan, Public Building & Site Committee Chairman Frank Krasnickas and architect Bill Mead of Jeter, Cook and Jepson. Representatives from the nine firms that bid the project sat in the audience.