Bid $ too high for speed bumps
Residents living on Sonja Drive, Admiral Road and St. John Court will have to wait to get their speed cushions.
Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted to table action on the bids they received to install the speed cushions.
Initially, the agenda item was a rejection of bids received to install speed bumps on Sonja Drive, Admiral Road and St. John Court.
Eric Schindler, assistant Town engineer, recommended the rejection “due to excessive cost.”
After approving the speed cushion installation on the three roads at earlier meetings, Schindler said the next step was to schedule the installation, which required an on-call contract.
No bids were received at a Nov. 29, 2023, bid hearing, then two bids were received Tuesday, Jan. 9.
“We had PRI and APAC-Atlantic Inc.,” Schindler said. “APAC-Atlantic did not include the installation of signage in their bid.
“Based on the bids received, the cost to install the asphalt speed cushions would be as follows: to install the eight speed cushions on Sonja Drive, based on the bid from PRI, would be $88,000 and based on the bid from APAC-Atlantic, it would be $75,200,” he said. “These don’t include the minimum charge per work order, so it would actually be $90,500 for PRI and $85,700 for APAC-Atlantic.”
For six speed cushions on Admiral Road, the bid from PRI was $66,000 plus the minimum charge, and for APAC-Atlantic, it was $56,400 plus its minimum charge, according to Schindler.
For 12 speed cushions on St. John Court, he said the bids came to $132,000 from PRI, plus its minimum charge, and $112,800 plus a minimum charge.
“The cost to do all three locations would be $288,500 by PRI and $254,900 for APAC-Atlantic,” Schindler said, adding that total price does include the minimum charges.
“PRI’s bid was fully turn-key, including signage,” he added. But “due to the amount being significantly higher than expected, staff recommends rejection of all bids and moving forward with the inclusion of a line item for installation of asphalt speed cushions in the fiscal year 2025 on-call road maintenance contracts.”
Town administrator David Smoak said the Town may get better pricing if the cushions are added as part of a road resurfacing project.
Although Mayor Ron Williams made the motion to reject the bids, Vice Mayor Louise Povlin, earlier in the meeting, made an alternate motion to go forward with the contract with PRI and install the speed cushions on Sonja Drive and Admiral Road, leaving out St. John Court. However, she later changed her motion to tabling action until the next meeting in February.
Ed Stone, an Admiral Road resident, voiced his concern about the safety for his four daughters. “Is there any idea of what’s going to happen moving forward if this is voted to kill it and move it on to a later date?” he asked. “What’s the plan?”
Williams said the plan is to get better project pricing.
“It appears, at least for my road, that $15,000 was allotted,” Stone said. “It looks like the prices are about five times that.”
He asked what company did a speed cushion job on Midhurst Road in 2022 and how much did it cost. “I’m just trying to make sure this happens going forward,” Stone said. “The numbers don’t add up … why were (the bids) so high.”
