By JOHN HOWELL With the opening of bids on Friday and a low bid of $19,650,132.90, Ward 5 Councilman Ed Ladouceur sees the possibility of having sewers up and operating for 937 Bayside property owners in 18 to 24 months. Bayside - comprised of the
This item is available in full to subscribers.
We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free website account by clicking here.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
Please log in to continue |
|
With the opening of bids on Friday and a low bid of $19,650,132.90, Ward 5 Councilman Ed Ladouceur sees the possibility of having sewers up and operating for 937 Bayside property owners in 18 to 24 months.
Bayside – comprised of the Riverview, Highland Beach and Longmeadow neighborhoods – has been scheduled for sewers for decades, with the Warwick Sewer Authority having gone so far as designing and earmarking bonding for the project. With the discovery of Native American archeological features, including graves in the path of sewer lines, however, plans were shelved and funding went to other projects.
Ladouceur remains frustrated that it has taken so long to bring residents a service they need – many Bayside homes are on small lots and dependent on septic systems or cesspools that are failing – yet he is excited an end now appears to be in sight.
The WSA received four bids for the work, ranging from the lowest submitted by D’Ambra Construction that has done much of the city’s sewer construction to a high bid of $30 million. Specifications call for the use of directional drilling that will take pipes beneath archeological features without disturbing them. This will be a first for the use of directional drilling by the WSA.
Ladouceur made Bayside sewers a campaign promise when he first ran for City Council in 2012. It was a commitment that, following his election, resulted in the formation of the Warwick Sewer Review Commission. That group met extensively as it not only addressed how to bring sewers to Bayside but also procedures used to assess homeowners, financial terms of assessments and the extension of sewers to other neighborhoods – including Governor Francis Farms in Ward 1, where two of three projects had been completed, and O’Donnell Hill in Ward 8.
Ladouceur feels including the Narragansett Indians as a member of the review commission was key to reaching this point. He notes a lot of work remains to be done.
Although all property owners equally share in the cost of a sewer project, suggesting that Bayside assessments could be in the range of $25,000 and less, the true cost will not be known until the project is completed. The project is a pressure system that will require homeowners to have grinder pumps.
The prospect of low-interest bonding rates bodes well for homeowners looking for the authority to finance their assessment. Under the regulations formulated by the review commission, the authority can add no more than an additional 1.25 percent to the interest rate it is paying. This could mean an interest rate of less than 4 percent to homeowners on a payment plan that might be as long as 30 years, Ladouceur notes.
“I can’t wait another five minutes to get a shovel in the ground,” Ladouceur said.
Depending on the timing of a bid award and the lineup of bond approval and financing, construction could start as soon as this spring. Projects of this size are usually scheduled to be completed in 18 months.
6 comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here
davebarry109
Look for the low bid to creep up by several million. It always does.
Tuesday, February 25, 2020 Report this
Drew
Ed is a savior. Thanks for the bargain $20-$25K assessments
Tuesday, February 25, 2020 Report this
bendover
Don't worry...If there is a house in the way, they'll just blow it up.
Wednesday, February 26, 2020 Report this
Thecaptain
Wonderful, now lets watch all of the code violations that take place such as when they did Social Drive, Crane St. Morning Glory etc...
For example:
The WSA paid $6000 to D'ambra for a Nuclear Troxler device (measures compaction) that was to remain with the WSA. Never got it.
The contract spelled out specific photography of every home and parcel in the project to be restored to existing conditions. Never got the photography.
Code calls for all existing asphalt that is excavated to be immediately removed from site and not to be used as fill. D'ambra stored the crap on site and back filled with it.
Back fill used on the properties after the main was installed loaded with crap soils.
Seeding on back filled areas resulted in 100% crab crass and weeds.
Compaction testing - by code must be done on each lift (every 6 inches) not done, hence uneven settling.
Code prohibits use of bucket strikes for compaction. That's all that they did, hence uneven settling.
How about when D'ambra spilled diesel fuel in one of the trenches? Work stopped, DEM arrives, D'ambra ordered to clean up the spill and have the soils tested. Guess who paid for that? Us. D'ambra put a back charge in to the WSA for work stoppage and the dopes paid it.
Extra costs will soar on this project as they do in every one of the WSA projects.
Oh yeah, for those of you not in the construction biz. Guess what city does not hire a third party testing lab to inspect the asphalt batches, (as every other town does)? You guessed it , Warwick.
What a joke. QC non existent with this cast of characters.
Thursday, February 27, 2020 Report this
Apple_martinis
And the firefighters keep on winning! First promotions all across the board and then 2.8% raises! Who else is getting raises like this, anyone?? (((but don't tell anyone, the mayor is spinning this a different way so shhh)))
Thursday, February 27, 2020 Report this
perky4175
why not pay a little more and get a company that will do the job right
Friday, February 28, 2020 Report this