VBT DDA sidewalk bids awarded to Davenport Brothers Construction

The new sidewalks along the north side of the I-94 North Service Drive between Belleville and Quirk Roads and along the east side of Belleville Road north of Tyler are on the way.
At the April 28 meeting of the Van Buren Township Downtown Development Authority the DDA voted to award the contracts to the low bidder of five contractors submitting bids: Davenport Brothers Construction of Belleville.
The bids were taken separately for the two projects, which engineers had expected to come in at a total of $500,000. Davenport submitted the lowest bid for both sections and is the lowest overall bidder.
Davenport bid $103,502.50 for the Belleville Road sidewalk north of Tyler and $141,773.75 for the Service Drive sidewalk, for a total of $245,276.25.
Anglin Civil bid a total of $257,652; Warren Contractors, $269,718.75; Lacaria Concrete, $280,593.20; and GM & Sons, Inc., $293,630.
Dave Nummer of Wade Trim, the DDA’s engineering consultant, said the DDA uses the township purchasing policy, which allows a 5% leeway to local contractors. Since the low bid was submitted by the only local contractor bidding, this policy does not change the outcome of the bidding and Davenport remains the low bidder, Nummer said.
The contract documents include a performance guarantee bond that is put in place to ensure that the contractor can complete the project, Nummer said. This bond is intended to provide the DDA with some assurance that the project will be completed as bid.
In recommending Davenport for the job, Nummer said Wade Trim and VBT both have extensive experience working with Davenport Brothers Construction.
“They are a well-known local contractor in the western Wayne County area,” he told the DDA. “Based on past performance, we are confident that this contractor has the equipment, labor force and financial capability and can complete the project in accordance with the contractor documents and specifications.”
On Oct. 28 the DDA rejected the one bid that had come in for the sidewalks from Lacaria Concrete for $278,825. Nummer told the DDA that was close to twice the then-expected amount of $150,280. Nummer said possibly they only got one bid because it was late in the season and contractors were very busy. Also, he said, there was a concrete shortage in the state.
At the DDA’s regular meeting on March 24, DDA Executive Director Susan Ireland announced she was so excited to finally have the permits from Wayne County for the sidewalks that she was thinking of having them framed and hanging them up.
The DDA had been going back and forth with the county on the span of sidewalk at the mobile home park because of alleged drainage problems.
The sidewalks are being paid for through the 2014 bond for traffic signals and road repair.
Ireland said they have been working on the project for so long that she won’t believe the sidewalks are coming until she sees Davenport out there starting the work.
In other business at the April 28 meeting, the DDA:
• Approved allocating $900 from the public relations line item to the VBT Parks and Recreation Department to sponsor rental of a portable stage for this summer’s concerts. The stage in the park is not in good shape and not useable this summer. Parks & Rec is renting the Belleville Area Council for the Arts portable stage at $400 a night for five concerts, plus the fireworks concert at Beck ball field. Three concerts will be in the DDA district, one north of Walgreen’s on the grass and two at Quirk Park. Two more will be at Van Buren Park. The one north of Walgreen’s is “in the heart of downtown Van Buren,” Ireland pointed out;
• Approved the final advertisement artworks for A-Source publication (jointly with the City of Belleville) and dBusiness for the July/August publication;
• Approved a request to purchase trade show booth components as listed on a quote from Skyline Exhibits and Services;
• Heard a report from Sally Hodges of McKenna Associates planning consultants, on 10101 and 10151 Belleville Road, the Al Harris Homestead property that was purchased by the DDA. The DDA is working on a history of the Harris family, which was the first black family in VBT. They are considering a survey of community members on how they want to use this property; and
• Approved a resolution on the Belleville Road/Ecorse Road landscape project in which the DDA promises the county it will mow the grass at that corner. The DDA will be putting up 200 feet of decorative fencing to replace the guardrails put up there by the county. There also will be bushes and trees. This will be paid for by the Ecorse intersection 2012 bond money.