Slightly off the mark – Project scaled down in an attempt to attract under-budget bids

The town’s plans to complete the reformation of the public landing into a bustling center of activity has hit a small bump in the road, as town officials have to go back out to bid to find a contractor to construct the proposed marine terminal building that will be adjacent to the new town pier.

“The earlier proposals all came in over budget, so the federal and state governments had asked us to refine the parameters of the project a bit and prepare new bid documents,” said Harbormaster Charles “Chucky” Famolare.

Currently, the new bid documents are being reviewed by town, state and federal officials to ensure they will result in a successful bid being awarded. Famolare said he is hopeful that the new bid documents and request for proposals could be out by the first week of August, which would mean a mid-August bid opening and possibly a contract with a construction contractor by the first week of September.

“I’m actually very optimistic that if we can have the contractor on the job by the first week of September, we could still build the main structure of the building this fall, before the weather gets bad and they could be working on the interior of the building during the winter and be completed in time for an April 1 opening next spring,” said Famolare.

The construction of a new marine terminal building that could house the Harbormaster’s Department and serve as a base of operations for a proposed ferry service (see related story below), would be the final piece of a transformation of the town’s old public landing on Shirley Street into a new, modern waterfront resource that can serve all manner of water-based activities for town residents, merchants and visitors.

Despite these delays, a combination of state and federal grant money has already been secured to pay for the new building.