HILLSBOROUGH: Painting estimates weren’t as high as stated

By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
   That high school painting project rejected July 23 by the Board of Education wasn’t five times the $33,000 estimate of earlier in the year.
   It was only about two times as large.
   Greg Gillette told his fellow school board members Aug. 27 that Board Secretary Aiman Mahmoud had incorrectly spoken at the July meeting in the discussion about a $156,750 bid for painting rooms and door frames in the 100, 200 and 300 wings, plus the gym.
   School board members rejected, 8-1, the one and only bid, especially after hearing it was five times the estimate of earlier this year.
   Board members should have been told the original estimate was $78,000, said Mr. Gillette.
   Mr. Gillette, chairman of the board’s operations committee, said administrators originally sought to have the work done under a shared services agreement with Middlesex County Educational Services. Its estimate was $140,000, Mr. Gillette said, more than most shared services projects.
   Mr. Gillette said the district was looking at the process of making cost estimates too far in advance of bidding and actual performance.
   He also said the district would try to get some of the high school painting done during the school year within budget estimates.
   Superintendent Jorden Schiff speculated bids might have been high because contractors were asked to finish by Aug. 31 — only five weeks from the date of the meeting. The bid said “all time limits stated in the contract are of the essence.”