The business of town highway bids

NORTH EAST — Highway-related bids were the focus of the Town Board’s Oct. 8 meeting, as Highway Superintendent Robert Stevens made a presentation on the subject to board members last Thursday evening. Stevens  presented the board with a 2010 bid packet that listed all of the necessary purchases, submitted bids and winning prices.

Once everybody had the bid packet before them, they got straight to work reviewing and approving the bids for Stevens, so he could make the work orders as quickly as possible.

The packet included sand and gravel bids, ranging from $8 a ton for bank run gravel to $18 a ton for screened top soil; those same items ran $12 a ton and $24 a ton, respectively, once the cost of delivery was included.

Prices for crushed stone were also submitted. They ranged from $11 a ton for 1�4 inch washed stone to $8.25 a ton for screenfill to $14.75 a ton for rip rap to $15.75 a ton for heavy stone fill. Those same items, if delivered, ran higher. The 1�4 inch washed stone cost $17.35 a ton, the screenfill cost $14.60 a ton, the rip rap cost $23.10 a ton and the heavy stone fill cost $25.10 a ton, once delivery was included.

Also included in Stevens’ bid package were prices for asphalt materials, with the footnote that hot mix is subject to price adjustments. The bid for Type 1 hot mix was accepted at $55 a ton, the bid for Type 3 hot mix was also accepted for $55 a ton, the bid for Type 5 hot mix got the OK at $70 a ton, the bid for Type 6 hot mix ran $57 a ton and the bid for Type 7 hot mix came in at $59 a ton. There was also a bid of $70 a ton for high performance cold mix that was awarded.

All of the winning bids came from Amenia Sand and Gravel, which is only 10 miles from North East, whereas the other bidders were located 27 miles or farther away from the town.

Road materials and equipment rental rates were also included in Stevens’ packet. All but one of the bids were submitted from one company — Peckham Materials. The only other company contacted, James Reed Sales, submitted just one winning bid, for liquid calcium chloride at $1 a gallon. The cost of the road materials ran from $2.30 to $3.10 a gallon; the cost for equipment rentals ran from $245 an hour for a cold mix paver to $425 per move for an equipment mobilization machine. It was noted that the road materials are subject to escalation or de-escalation of market price.

Stevens also spoke to the board about full depth reclamation by the square yard, and the bids submitted to do that type of work. They ranged from .90 cents a square yard to $1.70 a square yard. Materials related to the work ranged from $1.45 per gallon to $3.15 per gallon. Meanwhile, the necessary equipment, with operators included, ranged from $495 per hour for a reclaimer to $100 per hour for a water truck to $500 per hour for a mobilization machine. All of the bids were submitted by Reclamation of Kingston, LLC.

Next up for discussion was the delivery of on road diesel fuel. Only Bottini Fuel submitted bids: $1.87 for rack per gallon, .25 cents for constant add on per gallon and $2.12 for price per gallon. For the delivery of 87 octane gasoline, only Bottini Fuel bid on the job: $1.88 for rack per gallon, .25 cents for add on per gallon and $2.14 price per gallon. Keeping consistent, Bottini Fuel was the only bidder on No. 2 fuel oil delivery: $1.80 for rack per gallon, .30 cents for add on per gallon and $2.10 for price per gallon.

The last page of Stevens’ bid packet was the New York state contract for road salt bulk delivery. As Councilman Dave McGhee pointed out, Dutchess County is the only county that is contracting with the company International. Stevens said as far as going with state contracts, he believes that’s the best way to proceed. The cost per ton for road salt was listed at $70.37.

“I’ve talked to quite a few towns and the county people think that there’s really no other option,� he told the board when asked. “If you’re going to try to do something else, try in the spring.�

After the conclusion of Stevens’ presentation, the board accepted the bid packet unanimously.