08/11/11 On Tuesday night, the Plymouth Board of Aviation Commissioners awarded a bid for the re-siding of the terminal building. The project is just one on a long list of improvements that are being made at the airport.

The bid was awarded to Johnson Builders of Knox. According to the commissioners, Johnson had the low bid for the second time. The bid of $51,277 includes insulation as well as siding.

At the May meeting of the board, they received seven quotes for a terminal building re-siding project which they took under advisement. But what was originally thought to be a $30,000-$40,000 project ended up costing a great deal more.

Bids submitted on the project became difficult to compare since some of those received were for re-siding only of the 45-year-old terminal building, while others included the installation of windows on the south side of the building in the office area.

The matter was revisited since three of the bids received were over $50,000 and propelled the project into other parameters of public project bidding laws. The bids ranged from $32,000 to $61,000.

In order to stay within the laws concerning such projects, the board authorized Mark Shillington of Woolpert, Inc. to draft the documents for re-bidding. Shillington presented billing on June 14 for the work in the amount of $2,400, which the three board members present voted unanimously to pay.

The board received three bids during the second round that were opened during the last meeting. The bids were then taken under advisement. The bid from Johnson Builders did not include a bid bond that was required in the Woolpert bidding specification document.

However, prior to the August 9 meeting, the company did submit a bid bond. Speaking for Johnson Builders, Brian Johnson said, “I didn’t know what a bid bond was. It takes an attorney to read what you guys want.”

Since City Attorney Nelson Chipman was not present at the meeting, the commissioners turned to Shillington for his opinion on whether the bid bond submitted after the fact could be considered. Shillington said, “It’s not uncorrectable.”

At that point, a motion was made and passed unanimously to accept the bond as a part of the bid package.

The original bid document had a mid-September completion date and a penalty of $500 per day if the project is not completed on time. The commissioners discussed extending the date since the bid was awarded nearly a month later that they had anticipated that work would be started. Board President Tom Flynn asked Johnson to submit a schedule for work.

Carol Anders Correspondent