FARMINGTON – Franklin County commissioners met with contractors and architects to review bids for the construction of the dispatch center Tuesday afternoon. A total of 15 bids from construction companies around the state were considered, with the low bidder coming from Wilton.
Taylor Made Homes of Wilton was the lowest of the 15 bids, coming in at $498,900. Only nine of the 15 bids came in under the $598,300 amount approved by Franklin County voters in June. Bids ranged from the Sheridan Corporation, the next lowest bidder at $597,795, up to J.M. Brown General Contractors of Hampden, with the highest bid of $712,592. The lowest bid was roughly $20,000 above the construction portion of the project’s budget.
Voters approved funding the 2,200 square foot, stand-alone dispatch center with $598,300 in bonded funding. Commissioners have since selected Plymouth Engineering Inc. to design the facility, which will be located near the Franklin County Detention Center. Keith Ewing, project engineer at Plymouth Engineering, and the commissioners oversaw the opening of bids at the Franklin County Courthouse at 1 p.m. Due to the large number of offers, the event was held in the superior courtroom.
After reviewing the contractor bids, commissioners discussed the new dispatch center’s construction, notably the purchase and installation of the building’s generator.
“The big numbers are coming from getting the power in there,” commented Commissioner Clyde Barker of Strong.
After some deliberation, commissioners decided to postpone the selection of a contractor until the issue of the generator’s installation and enclosure could be settled with the low bidder, Taylor Made Homes. Commissioners will work with the architect and contractor to try and bring the project in at budget.
The bid process included a requirement that the project must be in a state of “substantial completion” within 16 weeks. The goal is to have the building ready in time for the roll-out of new 9-1-1 systems, sometime early next year.
Congatulations to Taylor Made Homes. They will do a great job!
Taylor Made is a fine outfir to work with.
I’ve used them and am completely satisfied,,
PLUS,,
They are “LOCAL” to the area.
On a side note, the owner of that company stopped to help me one time when I had a broken down trailer on the side of the road..
He got tools out of his truck and helped me until I was on my way again.
Very Nice.
Glad to c a local get it,instead of an out of towner.