Politics & Government

Stamford Major Construction Project Numbers Bring Good and Bad News

The city said the number of projects being picked up was a strong sign for the economy, but the outfits taking on the workload might be troubling for the long run.

Of the 19 major construction projects the City of Stamford put out to bid on which City Engineer Lou Casolo collected data, only five came in with bids higher than the engineer's estimations.

Eight came in with bids lower than his estimations and six came in with numbers about equal to what he figured they'd be.

"It's always a challenge to find the right bidder," Casolo said during a Board of Representatives Fiscal Committee meeting Tuesday night. "But each of the contracts we put out are getting four to five bids."

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He said the numbers here have been promising, and that may be because the work just doesn't exist anywhere else.

"The companies are saying they don't have much work elsewhere like they're finding in Stamford," Casolo said.

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"We're also seeing a lot more bids coming directly from the bonding companies," added Peter Privitera, Director of the Office of Policy & Management. "They are often scrutinizing the bids themselves."

Some projects are finding major interest and response. Smaller projects, like a window job at a school or police firing range are getting between five to eight bids, but major jobs like renovations to a fire house or the Mill River Ice Rink project are getting anywhere from ten to fourteen.

With projects dealing in any part petroleum, Casolo reported they've seen higher prices associated with the projects for obvious reasons. The rising cost of gasoline is a testament to the heightened cost of any project that would require the compound.

Permits granted for construction projects around the city are also a good indicator, Casolo said, and the numbers have been rising every year.

"It's good news that we're still getting a sufficient number of bids to our projects," Privitera said.

It was cautioned by several committee members during the meeting, however, that the future could be grim if major companies continue to outbid minor companies into extinction during the economic downturn.

If major companies can afford to outbid smaller companies in trying times, as is their prerogative in a free market, then those smaller companies might not exist in the future when financial stability returns, and larger companies will have less competition. 

"For a lot of smaller companies, money can be tight these days, especially with a lot of the bonding companies looking at the bids," Privitera said after the meeting. "But the larger companies are doing okay. And we're still getting all those bids responses to our RFPs (Request for Proposals.)"


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