Procurement round-up: Charlottesville seeking firms to build Barracks / Emmet project

Nearly ten years have passed since the City of Charlottesville was awarded funding for three streetscape projects in the first round of the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Smart Scale process.

After many years of delay and planning, only two of them have passed into the early days of the construction stage. VDOT has assumed control of the Fontaine Avenue Streetscape and bundled it with two other projects. The Emmet Streetscape is still in the design and right-of-way phase.

The city advertised the East High Streetscape on January 30 as I reported at the time. The project has had nine addendums and final proposals are due on April 30.

On April 14, they issued an invitation for firms to bid on the Barracks-Emmet intersection, a project awarded in the second Smart Scale round in 2017.

“This project will improve the existing left turn lanes at the Barracks Road and Emmet Street intersection, add a new right turn lane on Emmet Street, widen existing medians to provide pedestrian refuge islands, and replace the existing traffic signal infrastructure at this intersection,” reads the overview of the project.

The project will also extend a five-foot-wide sidewalk up Barracks Road to Buckingham Road. This is smaller than the original scope. I wrote a summary of this project last fall with more details.

Bids are not due until June 15. Learn more on the procurement page.

Let’s take a look at other recent procurement projects.

• At some point in March, the city appears to have awarded a contract to Blue Whale EV to install battery electric chargers at Charlottesville Area Transit’s parking lot at 1545 Avon Extended. The company is the only one to have bid with a proposal coming in at $184,460.16. Work was to have begun on April 1 and completed by May 22. (learn more)
• On March 24, Athens Building Company of Richmond won a contract for to modify the existing canopy at Washington Pool and to build a shed. The results tab does not appear to be visible for this project in the procurement portal. (learn more)
• On April 2, The Ceiling and Floor Shop won a contract to replace the stair tread at Summit Elementary School at a cost of $54,970. (learn more)
• On April 3, Tiger Fuel Company won a contract for a job titled “Citywide Vehicle Washing Services.” They were the sole entity to bid and will now provide a wash for city vehicles at $7.50 a pop. (learn more)
• The company that is currently repairing the two Downtown Mall crossings has also been hired to fix the brick runnels at a cost of $32 per linear foot for labor only. Oak Valley Landscaping submitted that as the lowest bid. The other bid was from Virginia Stoneworks who would have charged $475 per linear foot. (learn more)
• On April 9, Charlottesville awarded a contract to GCCM LLC of Lorton, Virginia, for a project to replace the glass wall at the cafeteria at Walker Upper Elementary School. After August, the facility will be converted to a temporary pre-Kindergarten center and the cafeteria will become an indoor play area. GCCM was the lowest of three bidders at $198,000. (learn more)
• On April 15, Charlottesville awarded a contract to Elyon Construction of Woodbridge, Virginia to replace a low-slope roof at Sunrise Elementary. Of the eight bidders, they had the lowest bid of $668,285. The highest bid was $1.336 million. (learn more)
• On April 16, Nielsen Builders of Harrisonburg were awarded a contract for building an outdoor playspace at the soon-to-be-former Walker Upper Elementary School. They were the sole bidder but the original bid of $914,927 was over the estimate. City code allows negotiations and the sole bid was reduced to $874,500. (learn more)
• On April 16, Berry and Company of Virginia of Newport News was awarded a contract to provide pool chemicals to city facilities. Their bid of $669.35 was lower than the one for Charlottesville Sanitary Supply who had quoted $949.73. (learn more)
• The deadline has passed for firms to bid for a contract to make improvements to curb ramps at 12 locations across Charlottesville to ensure compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Three companies have bid with North Construction the lowest at $157,500. (learn more)
• The city initially awarded a contract to Southard’s Lawn Care LLC of Orange to mow various school yards on February 26 but rescinded the notice on April 17. Then a new award was granted today to Gardenkeepers of Virginia LLC of Palmyra. They submitted a bid of $8,028.30. (learn more)

Bids still open:

• Today is the final day for firms to apply to provide support for software the city uses to power accounting and other financial services. The exact term is “project-based SAP Application Maintenance Services (AMS)” and there’s a lot of detail on the procurement site.
• Companies have until April 24 to submit a bid to be an on-call contractor for various construction projects across the city. Multiple firms will be awarded contracts. (learn more)
• An invitation to bid is open through April 28 for firms to provide “Bulk Snow / Ice Control Rock Salt with anti-caking agent. (learn more)
• Firms have until May 5 to submit a bid for the first phase of gas line replacement from Rugby Road to West Main Street. Learn more in this story. Or learn more on the city’s procurement site.
• The city is also seeking firms to do interior painting at Trailblazer Elementary School and bids are due April 28. (learn more)

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