New Castle Streetscape Bids Exceed Estimates By Wide Margin
Recently returned bids for New Castle’s long-awaited downtown Chappaqua infrastructure and streetscape project exceeded estimates by $3 million to $9 million forcing the town to attempt to negotiate a lower price with the potential contractor.
The town board revealed Tuesday night that five bids received on Apr. 21 ranged from a low of $13,720,000 to more than $19 million. Last year, the town’s consultant, WSP Sells, projected a roughly $10.5 million expense, which included a full-time inspector to oversee the contractors during the anticipated 18-month project.
Chris Nash, a vice president for Boswell Engineering whose company will negotiate on the town’s behalf, said he was hopeful there will be a positive result.
“I don’t have any specific numbers to tell you and all I can tell you is we’re optimistic that we’re going to negotiate a favorable number for the project because the alternative is if we don’t, it has to be rebid or it doesn’t go anywhere,” Nash said.
The surprise bid figures pose a challenge for a project that has been planned for years to make much-needed infrastructure improvements such as installing new water and sewer mains and drainage. A wide assortment of aesthetic enhancements has also been planned including new sidewalks and lighting and decorative benches and trash receptacles designed to beautify and reinvigorate downtown Chappaqua.
Additional work would feature new crosswalks, traffic improvements, a new traffic signal at the intersection of King Street and South Greeley Avenue and the inclusion of new public spaces for visitors to congregate.
The town is expected to pay for the work through bonding, said Supervisor Robert Greenstein.
Greenstein said he was confident the cost of the project will be negotiated significantly below the almost $14 million low bid without having to strip away too many items. On Tuesday, he compared the process to shopping for a new car and having to eliminate a few luxuries.
“I’m very confident that we’ll get this done, within the tax cap, and that residents will be thrilled with the results,” Greenstein said.
Officials also will analyze why the estimates were off by such a large margin, he said. It is also unknown at this point what, if any, parts of the project will have to be scrapped to reduce the project’s cost.
Two of the other bids were in the $14 million range, another was around $17 million and the highest came in at over $19 million, Greenstein said.
Councilman Adam Brodsky, who chaired the town’s Downtown Streetscape Committee, said despite being one of the most substantial projects that the town has undertaken, he expects the work to begin later this spring or summer and be completed by late 2018.
“I’m incredibly optimistic that very soon there’s going to be shovels in the ground outside,” Brodsky said.
Con Edison is already downtown in preparation to move utility poles. The town still needs approvals from the state Department of Transportation (DOT) and the county.
Councilman Jeremy Saland said the outcome of the bids were disappointing but the town will look to make the project work the best it can.
“The past is the past. We have to work with what we have and go in a new direction,” Saland said.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
