Reduction of Over $600K for Bridge, Road Warrants Proposed

Reductions to two warrant articles related to bridges and roads were presented to the Board of Selectmen on Jan. 28, totaling over $600,000 less than originally anticipated due to aggressive bid processes.

Article 6 on the town ballot, which currently calls for $1,630,417 for the replacement of bridges on Bluff Street and Providence Hill Road, will be lowered to $1,189,909, a decrease of $440,508.

A total of 10 bid proposals were received with a low bid of $526,222.87 from Thibeault Corporation of New England for Bluff Street and $404,804.80 from Busby Construction Co. Inc. for Providence Hill Road.

Costs that led to the final total in the warrant article for both bridges included construction, engineering & administration and contingency.

According to Salem Director of Engineering Bob Puff Jr., a good bid response was also seen for Article 7, which calls for road reconstruction projects on Stiles Road and Pond Street/Sand Hill Road.

Six bids came in for Stiles Road while seven were made for Pond Street/Sand Hill Road.

The article currently calls for $5,620,000, but the total reduction will be $196,423 for a final total of $5,423,577.

Factored into that reduction is a water bond amount that can be lessened by $283,101 and a tax (road) amount that will need to be increased by $86,679.

The warrant articles will be amended by the board at the Town Deliberative Session on Feb. 2.