BOMA unanimous on speed cushion bid rejection
Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted unanimously to reject the bids to install asphalt speed cushions on Sonja Drive, Admiral Road and St. John Court during its meeting Thursday, Feb. 8.
“Sonja Drive, Admiral Road and St. John Court are approved for traffic calming speed cushion installation in accordance with the Town of Farragut Traffic Calming Policy,” assistant Town engineer Eric Schindler said. “The next step in the process is the scheduling of the asphalt speed cushion installation.”
He said a bid reading for Contract 2024-10 for on-call speed cushion installation was held Nov. 29, 2023, but no bids were received.
The installation project was advertised again, and a new bid reading took place Jan. 9, with two bids received, one from PRI totaling $228,500 and another from APAC-Atlantic Inc. totaling $254,900.
Those bids were for six asphalt speed cushions on Admiral Road, eight on Sonja Drive and 12 speed cushions on St. John Court.
After the bids were presented to the Board Jan. 25, Vice Mayor Louise Povlin initially moved to investigate completing Sonja Drive and Admiral Road under PRI’s bid amounts — at a cost of $156,500 — but to withhold moving forward on St. John Court. Ultimately, however, the Board voted to table the agenda item until Feb. 8.
“Based on the bids received, we are recommending rejection of bids due to excessive cost,” Schindler said.
Since the bids were rejected, he listed the following options:
• “Consider rubber bolt-down speed cushions similar to those installed on Thornton Drive and Clover Fork Drive. Staff has obtained quotes indicating cushions for all three roads (Sonja Drive, Admiral Road and St. John Court) would cost approximately $22,000 plus staff time to install with a product delivery time frame of one to three weeks.
• “Consider adding asphalt speed cushions to the annual on-call roadway maintenance contract, which will begin July 1.
• Consider terminating the current maintenance contract (held by PRI Inc., which runs through June 30) and rebid immediately with asphalt speed cushions included.
“If we receive a reasonable bid, this might allow installation as early as mid- to late- April, primarily being weather dependent,” Schindler said. “While this potentially expedites installation by up to three months, it might be considered poor business practice and could still result in similar excessive bids for the asphalt speed cushions.”
Gary Steimer, Prestwick Place HOA’s traffic and safety chairman, said one of the tasks has been traffic control at corner of St. John Court and Grigsby Chapel.
“It helped our board with your changing the rules in how you determine where you can put traffic cushions and who decided,” he said. “Everyone on the street voted to have them installed.”
He said the asphalt cushions would work for his neighborhood.
“Two weeks ago, I found out maybe the money was not there to do it and the Board was looking at bolt-down cushions, such as at Thornton Road,” Steimer added. “Nobody would want those on the road. Those things belong in parking lots.”
With St. John’s Court speed limit at 25 mph, “we’re trying to keep it as close to that, with the speed cushions, as we can,” he said. “We’re asking two things: No. 1, that we be included with the other two neighborhoods in any bid that comes up and we request the asphalt cushions be the choice of installation.”
Kim Frasch asked about coat-tailing a bid so the Town doesn’t need new bids.
“I want the residents to get what they asked for — they went through the process …,” Alderman Drew Burnette said. However, “we have to be responsible with our money.”
