Council Reviews Street Paving, Canal Dredging Bids

OCEAN CITY — Resort officials this week opened bids for upcoming street paving and canal dredging projects, but not before defending the bidding process.

During Tuesday’s work session, the Mayor and Council fielded a question from the audience seeking an answer to why the elected officials almost always accept the lowest bids for various projects. Mayor and Acting City Manager Rick Meehan explained opening the bids was only one step in a much larger process.

When a project is proposed, such as street paving or canal dredging for example, the first step is a request for proposal, which explains a project’s scope, how much is budgeted for it and other guidelines.

The RFP goes out to potential bidders, who then submit their bids based on their estimated costs. The Mayor and Council then review the submitted bids and enter them into the record before returning them to staff and department heads for review. The staff then makes recommendations on accepting the bids based on a variety of factors, most importantly the cost of the bid in relation to the budgeted amount, but also the qualifications and experience of the competing bidders or a past relationship with the town. Meehan said the process was complicated, but almost always represented the best value for the resort.

“When we read the bids, we aren’t accepting them at that time, we are merely acknowledging receipt of them,” he said. “We don’t always take the low bid and the staff often recommends taking a different bid. We don’t arbitrarily accept the lowest bid. It’s not a quick process and there is a follow-up in place.”

With that discussion dispensed with, town officials turned their attention to opening the bids for the upcoming street paving and canal dredging projects. Each year, Ocean City budgets funds for ongoing street paving and canal dredging projects. This year, the street paving program is focusing on the area from 87th to 94th streets, an area around 15th Street and St. Louis Avenue and another area around Northside Park. Public Works Director Hal Adkins said the town budgeted $1.5 million for street paving this year, but unanticipated revenue allowed the resort to add roughly another $1 million for the program, bringing the total to around $2.6 million.
“My standing request is for $3 million and this gets us very close to that,” he said. “I appreciate that and we might be able to do some more with the extra money this year.”

Adkins explained the state had allocated a supplemental $300,000 grant to the town for street paving this year, lessening the $1 million extra contribution from the town. With the supplemental grant from the state, the town’s extra contribution was reduced to $700,000 and $300,000 would be returned to the general fund.

In terms of the ongoing canal dredging program, City Engineer Terry McGean explained two canals were targeted this year in Caine Keys area including Channel Buoy Road and Old Wharf Road in north Ocean City. The town’s estimate for the two canals was around $450,000 and the lowest bids came in at just over $300,000.

McGean explained the difference between the anticipated expense and the lowest bids could be redirected at other areas in need of dredging this year, or could be rolled over into next year’s budget for canal dredging.

“The permits are good for three years and we try to stay out in front of it so while we’re working on these canals this year, we have permits in place for other canals in out years,” he said. “It’s an ongoing process. If we have a difference of $150,000, we can do some extra work this year or put it toward the next round of dredging next year.”

Councilman Tony DeLuca recommended continuing to funnel extra funding back into the program.

“It’s one of the most important things we do in terms of safety and property values,” he said. “Any extra money should be put back into the program.”

About The Author: Shawn Soper

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Shawn Soper has been with The Dispatch since 2000. He began as a staff writer covering various local government beats and general stories. His current positions include managing editor and sports editor. Growing up in Baltimore before moving to Ocean City full time three decades ago, Soper graduated from Loch Raven High School in 1981 and from Towson University in 1985 with degrees in mass communications with a journalism concentration and history.