Apparent winner comes in below township’s estimate of $12.5 million
By Greg Forester, Staff Writer
PLAINSBORO — The Township Committee could award the contract for the construction of Plainsboro’s new 34,000-square foot library as early as the committee’s next meeting on Wednesday, township officials said this week.
The estimated cost for the project — located in the heart of the Plainsboro Village Center — was in the neighborhood of around $12.5 million, and the lowest bid of $11,870,000 came from H & S Construction & Mechanical Inc. of Elizabeth.
”The bids came in within the range we were hoping for and the lowest bidder has been certified,” said Library Director Jinny Baeckler, who assisted BKSK Architects of New York City in designing the structure. “The first few bids came in higher then the estimate made by the architects, but now everything is hunky-dory.”
Now it will be up to the Township Committee to take a look at the 10 bids the township received and make a decision, which officials said could happen at the committee’s Wednesday meeting.
Part of the deliberations will involve making decisions about portions of the project, which the prospective contractors bid on separately from the absolutely necessary features of the new library.
When broken out from the main project bid, they provided the township with some flexibility in bringing down construction costs to their estimated range, according to Ms. Jinny Baeckler.
There were 11 different features that the contractors bid on separately, Mr. Sheehan said.
Plainsboro officials said roughly half of the bids came in under their estimate for the project.
”We were very pleased there was that kind of interest in the project,” said Township Administrator Bob Sheehan. “There was some range to it, which is fairly typical for this type of project.”
The highest bid received was $16,337,000, officials said.
Once completed, the new structure will provide some much needed relief for library employees dealing with a tremendous space crunch in the current building, located in the township’s municipal complex.
Currently there are nearly 90,000 volumes packed into the library, which was designed for a maximum capacity of 60,000 books and other items.
The new structure should be able to hold double the capacity of the old structure, Ms. Baeckler said.
Once the contract is awarded, township officials will schedule preconstruction meetings and try to hold a groundbreaking ceremony sometime in December, Mr. Sheehan said.
”The start of the project will be dependent on the weather and the ability to mobilized and get ready,” said Mr. Sheehan. “What I have been told over the last several years is that the project should take 12 to 18 months, although I am curious to ask the low-bidder.”
Given a construction date this winter the project should be completed sometime in early 2009, officials said.
Funding for the project came in the form of a $15.5 million bond ordinance passed over the summer, and bid specifications were sent out in September.