CDBG project bid awarded, work to begin soon
Front Street will be the focus of a sidewalk project funded with CDBG money.
FARMINGTON - Selectmen Tuesday night awarded the lowest bidder for the Community Development Block Grant projects in Meetinghouse Park and on Front Street to a Minot-based construction firm.
Off Road Construction, Inc, came in with the lowest bid of $161,326 for sidewalk improvement work on Pleasant and Front streets, from Meetinghouse Park to the entrance of the Narrow Gauge Cinema parking lot, in an effort to create safe passage for pedestrians along those roads. The work also includes improving access into Meetinghouse Park for the disabled.
Voters accepted $150,000 in CDBG funding through the Community Enterprise Program to install new curbing, sidewalks and paving. A major part of the work is to bring the existing sidewalk on the corner of Broadway and Front Street down to street-level grade. In order to do that, a retaining wall will be built on the corner of the Williams law office.
Another $40,000 from CDBG Public Facilities Program will provide improved access for disabled individuals in Meetinghouse Park. Steps will be removed on the Exchange Street side of the park and a sidewalk will be installed to connect the upper and lower sections of the park. A $10,000 match of town funds from the American with Disabilities Act account was a requirement of the grant.
Town Manager Richard Davis said on Wednesday he expects the work to start in about three weeks and to be completed by the end of September.
Handicapped accessibility will be improved in Meetinghouse Park.
In other Meetinghouse Park related news, former Farmington town manager, John Edgerly has offered to donate his services to upgrade the lighting in the park's gazebo. The Old Crow Band musicians who play on Monday nights in the summer at the gazebo are having a hard time reading the sheet music due to the dim lighting.
Edgerly's wife, Mary Ellen Edgerly plays in the band and members have tried to rig extra lighting but what's really needed are better ceiling lights than the currently installed recessed fixtures. Measurement with a light meter showed there was less than half of what is needed to properly read the music.
"I have a special feeling for Meetinghouse," John Edgerly explained to selectmen of his decision to help. Selectmen each thanked him and voted to accept the donation.
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We also need a sidewalk on the OTHER end of Front St. ----from where the UMF sidewalk ends to Giffords/McD's. That's a scary and dangerous walk for pedestrians.
I was hoping it it was going to be all the way down as well ...
I would have liked to see a local contractor get the job.
thats real nice to award the bid to an out of town company when there is so many people un employed around here and thecomp[anies around here could use the work . it may be a little more expensive to hire someone around here but at least the money would stay in our community and the people of our community would get some return of our tax dol;lars . way to go town manager .these things are the same reason you put wilton into a gohst town . i hope you are proud of your self .
What a waste of the towns money. thats so much $. i have grew up here and spent a lot of time walking around town and in this area never had a problem what so ever. what a joke.
Bids are awarded by the lowest bid, giving 5% leeway to local bidders. If you sat at the Selectmen's meeting, you'd know the local company bidding on this was nearly $150,000 over the lowest bid, that bid being a non-local company. So...do we spend the money to keep a local firm working, or do we spend a whole lot less because the lower bid was from out-of-town? I believe that's why projects are put out to bid in the first place.
Frankly, I'd rather spend the $98,000 on ROADS, NOT sidewalks.
Morrison Hill or Voter Hill are prime examples of the roads that desperately need work.
And originally, the sidewalk was going to McDonald's, but
because of the expense, couldn't be put in this year. And for those of you who question this, maybe you should sit in on a Selectman's meeting to ask questions then instead of making remarks on the Bulldog!