Up to $4.7 million in contracting work to install a web of infrastructure for a planned cluster of government facilities in Alcalde was put out to bid earlier this month.
But Rio Arriba County and other participating agencies are $1 million short to cover the entire cost of the infrastructure, which may force them to scrap or delay portions of the work.
The scope of work for the bids fixes a base price of $2.1 million for the infrastructure and includes incremental additions up to $4.7 million.
While County Commissioner Alfredo Montoya said the County as of Tuesday was about $1 million short of being able to foot the full bill, he said he hopes to be able to devote a one-time influx of money to the infrastructure project in the County’s fiscal year 2012 budget. Otherwise, the County could indefinitely delay segments of work — for instance, leaving some roads unpaved and to be completed by the County’s own personnel as funds become available, Montoya said.
Montoya said the Commission’s priority was to complete everything necessary for the planned North Central Solid Waste Authority transfer station, which he hopes to see built by next spring, and two County buildings, a public works yard and a recreation center.
Seventeen general contractors attended a mandatory pre-bid meeting hosted by County Grants and Contracts Administrator Phil Morfin April 14 in preparation to compete for the contract. The sealed bids will be opened publicly May 5, and the County hopes to award the contract sometime in May, he said.
“The County awards the bid to the proposal which is in the best interest of the County and within budget,” Morfin said.
Statute requires a public agency that uses a competitive bid process to award the contract to the “lowest responsible bidder.”
Montoya, whose Commission district includes Alcalde, said it’s rare for the County not to award the contract to the lowest bidder, although the bid evaluation committee, which has yet to be named by Morfin, can also consider other criteria like work history and bonding capacity in its assessment of the competing firms.
If a contractor submits the lowest bid and meets all the project’s specifications, the County must have a good reason to select a different bidder, Montoya said.
Bid documents say the County intends to award the bid to the lowest bidder, but that bidder must also be able “to prove that his financial resources, production or service facilities, personnel (and) service reputation are adequate” to satisfactorily complete the project.
After the contract is awarded, the general contractor will likely use several subcontracting companies to help complete the roads, sewer, water, Internet, gas and electricity lines that will be part of the project, Montoya said.
Morfin said each entity with a stake in the Alcalde site will pay a portion of the infrastructure cost (see box). He said the County will pay the largest portion for its two facilities, the public works building and the recreation complex. The public works building is expected to cost between $1.8 million and $3.2 million, while the recreation facility could cost anywhere from $4.8 to $17 million depending on available funding and the design chosen by the County, Morfin said.
The Authority is expected to pay the next-highest share of the infrastructure cost for its trash facility, Morfin said. But part or all of that cost may also end up on the County’s tab if the commissioners follow through with a pledge to help build the Authority’s transfer station. Authority Interim Manager Michele Martinez said her predecessor, Joe Lewandowski, had pledged $1 million toward the infrastructure project in summer 2009, but Martinez said now, without credit or money, the Authority will not be able to contribute.
“You can’t squeeze water out of a rock,” said County Manager Tomas Campos, who is also an Authority Board member.
Campos said the Española School District had already paid the next-highest amount, $800,000 for its portion of the infrastructure that will serve a planned 53,000-square-foot elementary school. The District plans to pay for the school from a recently passed $28 million bond issue. The planned school’s chief architect Sanjay Engineer said the project is expected to cost $13.4 million.
The County will pay its $2.9 million portion of the infrastructure tab with $500,000 from a federal Community Development Block Grant, $1.4 million in state capital outlay money, and the rest from the County general fund and savings, Assistant County Manager Trujillo said.
He said the work will take an estimated 180 days to complete, and possibly longer.
“It will be September or October before it’s all done — that’s what they’re telling us on paper,” Trujillo said. “But I don’t know if that’s how quickly it will actually get done.”
Montoya said the construction of some of the facilities will most likely begin as the infrastructure is still in-process, but the structures must be built so hook-ups like water, driveways and electricity are compatible with the infrastructure plan.