Board of Awards Meeting - April 26, 2026
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Board of Awards Meeting - April 26, 2026
The Board of Awards met on April 26, 2026, at 10:00 AM (presumed local time) under the chairmanship of Chip Polky, Purchasing Agent. Attendees included Tom Hughes (Superintendent of Construction Services), Tracy Norris (Assistant Corporation Counsel), Tim Nolan (Superintendent of Public Services), Tom Balterman (Engineering), Stephen Talley (Assistant Purchasing Agent), Antonio Anderola (City Engineer/Public Works Director), and Kara Punty (Assistant Finance Director). The board shifted the agenda to address bridge rehabilitation first, followed by annual paving contracts.
Discussion Items
- Rehabilitation of Bridge 04176 (Kennedy Avenue over Still River): This was a rebid after initial bids exceeded budget. The board unanimously rejected the two bids received ($3,058,650 from New England Infrastructure, the other unnamed) as they were still over budget despite scope reductions. Subsequently, the board approved awarding the work to Hemlock Construction for $2,816,835.09 using the Gordian/CROG (Capital Region Council of Governments) on-call construction contract. Tom Hughes noted the bridge is the longest city-owned bridge, built in the 1960s as part of 1955 flood mitigation, and is deteriorating; the repair is urgent to avoid capacity reduction or closure. The award is contingent upon execution of a contract.
- Paving in Place and Related Services: This is an annual unit price bid. Six bids were received. Tim Nolan’s analysis, based on actual quantities over the past three years and 2026 projections, identified Asphalt Repair Solutions as low bidder and American Pavement Specialists as second low. The board voted to award contracts to both firms, contingent on contract execution, citing the need for two contractors due to a heavy schedule.
- Paving Related Road Reclamation: Similarly, an annual unit price bid with six bids received. Nolan’s analysis again showed Asphalt Repair Solutions as low and American Pavement Specialists as second low. The board awarded contracts to both firms, contingent on contract execution, for the 2026 paving season.
Key Outcomes
- Unanimous motion to reject both bids for Kennedy Avenue Bridge rehabilitation (motion carried).
- Unanimous motion to award the bridge work to Hemlock Construction via the Gordian/CROG contract, contingent on contract execution (seconded by Ms. Prunty, all in favor).
- Unanimous motions to award both paving contracts (paving in place and road reclamation) to Asphalt Repair Solutions and American Pavement Specialists, contingent on contract execution.
- Meeting adjourned by unanimous consent.
Meeting Transcript
Okay, this is the Board of Awards for Wednesday, April 1st, 2026, filling the meeting the order at 10 o'clock AM. My name is Chip Polky and the purchasing agent. We have with us an attendance today, Mr. Tom Hughes, superintendent of construction services. We have attorney Tracy Norris, Assistant Corporation Counsel. We have Mr. Tim Nolan, Superintendent of Public Services. We have Mr. Tom Balterman, engineer from our engineering department. Stephen Talley, assistant purchasing agent, Mr. Antonio Anderola, or City Engineerslash Public Works Director, and Ms. Kara Punty, our assistant finance director. Everybody, we've been asked, we're going to shift the items around. We're going to put three and four to the top. I don't think anybody had a problem with that. So we'll start with uh bid number uh 1225.601. That was the rehabilitation of bridge 04176, Kennedy Avenue over Still River. This was a rebid. And for the record, yes, this was a rebid, the initial bids I came in over budget engineering um to rework the scope uh to reduce uh to reduce the requirements. Uh we issued this bid. We got two bids. The parallel bidder was New England infrastructure, assumation of $3 million $58,650. And that was also over budget. So I believe we want to reject both of these bids at this time. That's correct. Yeah. Um, I just want to add to what Chuck said is even with the reduction in the scope and minimizing some of the requirements of the bid, actually, bids came in higher than the previous bids that had the scope in it. Um, so we spent Tom and I spent a lot of times looking at the pay items, and we feel the best thing to do at this point is reject full fill those bids. Okay, so motion is to reject all bids. Not all in favor. Tracy and receiving Antonio Rule in favor. All right, motion carries unanimously corporation council. Thank you, department. Thank you. Improvements to bridge 04176 Kennedy Avenue overstill river engineering. Uh and for the record, we shouldn't roll and submitted a uh proposal from Hemlock Construction, which stated uh March 30, 2026. Uh, this is to perform uh the subject work. Uh the total proposed amount is 2,816,835.09 cents and Hemlock Construction uh proposed to do this work for their current capital region council of government's crack on call construction contract for roads and bridges. That's correct. Um I I just want to put on the record that uh uh Kennedy Avenue Bridge is the longest city-owned bridge in the entire city. Um it was built in the 60s and was part of the 1955 flood mitigation. It's actually built by the Army Corps, utilizes a very uh unique construction um uh types and structures, and it is deteriorating uh terribly. And we are in urgent need of making these repairs. If not, uh the bridge is either going to get um uh under uh uh reduction in capacity or it's gonna end up having to be closed because it's it's deteriorating. So we did utilize the uh Gordian uh bid uh that you just made reference to and uh we did get a price back that is 240 some odd thousand dollars lower than the lowest bid that we just rejected. So it seems to be in the best interest of the city to proceed this way. And as you know, we've used the Gordian uh bid for a long time on multiple projects. So uh so my recommendation is that we make the award to Hemlock through the um uh Gordian and the uh Crog bid that you just referenced. And then contingent upon execution of an accessory. Yes, we'll like contingent on execution of a contract.
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