Mineola Board of Ed Rebids Hampton Street Contract

The construction on to the will still be completed in time for the 2012-13 school year, despite the rejecting all bids for the general contractor for the project.

The rejection came at the November 17 meeting of the board and was based on recommendation of district architectural firm of Holzmacher, McLendon & Murrell. The district had bid out work for four areas of the new construction: plumbing, electric, HVAC and general contracting which includes cement, steel, finish work, masonry and painting.

Mineola did not go out to bid for furniture according to the superintendent “because there’s a bid I can use” through BOCES “but I have to figure that cost in,” to the overall project.

The district opened the bids on November 16, receiving four different bids for the general contractor but which came in “with a varying degree between the high bid and the low bid,” Superintendent Dr. Michael Nagler said. “It was a great discrepancy.”

The bids for the other three contracts had “very competitive prices,” according to Dr. Nagler.

New bids for the general contractor have been solicited with more specifics and alternatives included in the bidding documents as a safeguard to ensure what the district feels will be more accurate prices for the work.

“We think we can get a better price, so we’re going to go out and rebid just this piece of the work,” Dr. Nagler said. “I think we can get better numbers if we go back out again.”

The rebidding of the general contractor will not affect the timeline of completion of the project, which will take approximately 8 months.

“We’ll be on schedule if they meet all the milestones on the bid,” Dr. Nagler said, noting that the rebid is “the best way to get the price in and have other moneys for all the things we want to do.”