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Bid on V&M rail work expected to get board’s OK
YOUNGSTOWN
The city’s board of control is expected today to approve a $14.08 million contract with a com- pany for a railroad construc- tion and relocation project needed for V&M Star’s $650 million expansion.
Of the four proposals received by the city in its third effort to find a contractor for the job, Great Lakes Construction of Hinckley submitted the lowest price.
Approval today by the board is contingent on review and final approval by the city’s law department.
But a review of Great Lakes’ $14,075,796.40 proposal by the city’s public works department as well as state and federal agencies showed no mistakes or problems, said Charles Shasho, deputy director of the city’s public works department.
Because federal stimulus money is being given to the state for this project, state and federal agencies, including the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration, needed to approve the proposal, Shasho said.
Great Lakes will start working on the project by mid- to late August, Shasho said. The project could take up to 300 days to complete.
The city rejected four proposals for this work in June 2010. The project’s original estimate was $13.56 million, but the proposals ranged from $18.18 million to $20.21 million.
After nearly four months of talks with V&M, the state rail commission, ODOT and FHA, the city changed the project’s scope and opened proposals in October 2010.
The city rejected the six proposals a month later because the apparent low proposal of $14,339,389.10 from Atlas Railroad Construction Co. of Eighty Four, Pa., failed to include a cost for two gate-crossing signals. Great Lakes had the third-lowest proposal in that second failed attempt to find a contractor for this project.
Two contractors threatened to sue the city over the bidding process. Also, attorneys from the city, ODOT, the rail commission and the state attorney general recommended the proposal be rejected.
The city opened proposals for the third time on June 15.
The project has a base contract for 28,000 feet of rail tracks, switches, crossovers, railroad ties and some storm sewer work. The city also plans three add-ons for 16,640 feet of additional rail tracks that V&M would use to load, unload and store rail cars.