Board reviews bids for town garage construction

OTISFIELD — Two bids for design and construction of a town garage were reviewed by selectmen at their June 20 meeting. 

The Otisfield garage would be modeled after the Buckfield town garage. 

The bids will go to voters at town meeting June 30 before the town makes a decision to move forward. 

Architect Dave Hart presented the bids for the work – one from Saco company, P.M. Construction and the other from Building Solutions (BS) in Oxford. 

Hart said after personally reviewing both bids, he learned that there was very little discrepancy between the two. "They are pretty much apples to apples," he said. 

For P.M. Construction, the base bid was $313,240. Building Solutions bid higher, at $386,283. 

Last June, when voters at town meeting approved the proposal, selectmen estimated construction to cost about $350,000. 

Both bids included three alternates – a standing seam roof at a price of $5,140 from P.M. and $11,113 from BS; a 275-gallon oil tank for $1,045 from P.M. and $1,512 from BS; and LP gas conversion, $0 from P.M. and $2,310 from BS.

According to Hart, both companies have included excavation work and auto transfer generators in their budgets. Fire alarm systems were not included in either bid, he said. 

Selectman Rick Micklon said that Great Falls Security, with which the town has a contract, could install the system if needed. 

In addition to the general construction and site work, Building Solutions also included in its bid a number of unit prices for various items, like a Heat Recovery Ventilation (HRV) system, costing somewhere between $15,000 and $20,000.

It has also included a carbon monoxide unit. 

Building Solutions Representative Brian O'Donnell, who was at the meeting, said that he had visited the Buckfield town garage several years ago and learned of some issues that he said Otisfield can avoid. 

"They brought in the plow trucks and the snow melted off," he said. "It evaporates, then tries to get out of the building ... it clings to the walls and freezes. 

"If you are opening up the doors quite a bit, you are going to have heat loss, and it's going to take a while to get back up to speed with radiant heat," said O'Donnell. But with HRV – which exchanges the inbound air with outbound air – he said this wouldn't be a problem. 

"The price we put together is a price we felt was a responsible budget ... to make this facility work," said Joe Casalinova, another BS representative. 

"We would be ... willing to work with the committee and your architecture consultant ... to make sure you fully understand that we put our best foot forward," he said.