OCEAN CITY — Resort officials this week got good news on a couple of capital project bids coming in under budget.
The Mayor and Council reviewed bid recommendations for ongoing projects in the resort, including canal dredging and the Boardwalk seawall sheet pile recoating. Each year, the town contracts with a private company to dredge various bayside canals and channels that naturally silt in over time and often become unnavigable. The project is done in phases with a couple of canals dredged each year.
This year, the town received two bids for canal dredging, which is a pay-as-you-project paid for in a line item in the general fund. The total budget for canal dredging this year was $435,000. The two bids received in August were remanded to staff for review and a recommendation. By and large, the town generally accepts the low bidder, unless extenuating circumstances exist, and sometimes go with a slightly higher bid if the company is local.
Both bids received for canal dredging this year came in under the $435,000 budgeted. One bid came in at a little over $407,000, while the low bid came in at just over $387,000. Based on the recommendation from staff, the council on Tuesday unanimously approved the low bid from Brittingham Construction and Landscape at $387,175.
Councilman Mark Paddack questioned a line item in the bids entitled stakeout. Engineering Manager Paul Mauser explained that covers the expense of surveying the parameters of the canals to be dredged and differentiate them from what would be considered private property.
“We prefer to have a surveyor stake out the exact limits of the canals,” he said.
Another project’s bids reviewed and approved this week involved the seawall sheet pile recoating. The project was budgeted at $1.8 million and the town received two bids in August for review.
The low bid came in at a little over $1.4 million, while second higher bid came in at over $4.2 million. Naturally, the council approved the low bidder, ProCoat LLC.
