Renovation Bids Top Estimate

From the Intelligencer.

This is why Morrisville can out-perform any other school district financially. We have the know-how of The Emperor, who can cost out any plan, anywhere, anytime, and it will never, ever go over budget. We don't need fancy degreed and experienced people to provide studies.

School renovation bids under estimate
By: LOU SESSINGER
The Intelligencer

If the dark cloud of the economic recession has a silver lining, it could be that some contractors anxious for work might be willing to work for less than they would in brighter financial times.

That was the message the North Penn school board heard Wednesday as it prepared to award $9.7 million in bids for renovation work at North Wales Elementary.

Those bids brought the total estimated cost of the project to about $11.2 million, said D. Michael Frist, the school district's director of business administration.

That's almost $4.5 million less than the $15.7 million the district had budgeted for the work.

"It's about 26 percent under the estimate," Frist told the board. "It has to do with the current economic climate and that the bid candidates are looking for work."

The bids the school board approved Wednesday included $3.7 million to general contractor Ernest Bock & Sons Inc; $2.4 million for HVAC work to Myco Mechanical Inc.; $881,000 for plumbing to Worth & Co. Inc; $1.3 million for electrical work to MJF Electrical Contracting Inc.; $379,000 for fire protection to Apex Plumbing & Heating Inc.; and $969,000 for site work to Bencardino Excavating Inc.

The board also approved a bid of $119,900 to Sargent Enterprises for asbestos abatement at the North Wales school.

The renovation work at the school, located on Summit Street in North Wales, includes a new lobby and main office, bus lanes, a driveway and parking lot, as well as upgraded heating, electric and sprinkler systems, new carpets and repainting.

The school opened as a high school in 1928 and became an elementary school in 1955. The work is expected to begin this summer and be completed in the summer of 2010.

Lou Sessinger can be contacted at 215-345-3148 or lsessinger@phillyBurbs.com.

March 26, 2009 02:41 AM