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City weighs proposals for V&M project
YOUNGSTOWN
City officials plan to approve a contract sometime in the next two weeks for a major-improvement project needed for V&M Star’s $650 million expansion.
The city opened proposals Tuesday from six companies for the project that will use $14.4 million in federal stimulus-fund money to build and relocate railroad lines and install storm-sewer lines at the V&M expansion site.
Awarding a contract is not as simple as giving it to the lowest and best proposal, said Charles Shasho, deputy director of the city’s public- works department.
The city had a base proposal and eight add-ons for this project. Most of the add-ons were for additional feet of railroad track, Shasho said.
The city determined before the proposals were opened Tuesday that two of the add-ons were no longer needed, Shasho said. Even if they were, the city doesn’t have the money to pay for them, he said.
The city originally opened proposals for this work May 28. The project’s estimate was $13.56 million, but the proposals from the four companies seeking the work ranged from $18.18 million to $20.21 million.
The city charter doesn’t permit awarding contracts to proposals that exceed the city’s estimate for a project.
After nearly four months of discussions with V&M, the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration, the city scaled back the project and opened proposals for the work.
The reductions include eliminating one rail line, using less- expensive rail switches and decreasing the thickness of the base of the railroad tracks, Shasho said.
Through the reductions and the decision to separate the add-ons, the city lowered the base proposal from $13.56 million to $11.35 million.
City officials will evaluate the six proposals and the add-ons to see which company has the lowest and best package, Shasho said. The evaluation includes the base proposal and five or six of the add-ons, Shasho said.
A review of the proposals by The Vindicator shows that Atlas Railroad Construction Co. of Eighty Four, Pa., has the combined lowest proposal of the base work and the first five add-ons at $14,339,389.10. That’s followed by Marucci & Gaffney Excavating Inc. of Youngstown with a $14,369,789.77 proposal for the base work and the first five add-ons.
The base work would install 28,000 feet of railroad tracks. The first five add-ons include the installation of about 25,000 additional feet of tracks.
If the city opts to include the sixth add-on, an automated rail-line-switch system, Marucci & Gaffney would have the lowest proposal at $15,119,867.77 with The Great Lakes Construction Co. of Hinckley with the second-lowest proposal at $15,326,055.80.
City officials and the FHA have to evaluate all the proposals before a contract can be signed.
If the city decides to include the automated-switch system, it would have to borrow money from the state through a low-interest loan for any amount above the $14,408,265 stimulus money, Shasho said.
The project could start as early as next month and take up to 300 days to complete, he added. V&M Star’s expansion project is scheduled to be finished in late 2011.