Bid protest in Granby throws wrench in West Street Building renovations

GRANBY — A bid protest between the three lowest bidders for the West Street Building renovations have delayed the project for upward of six to eight weeks.

“We’re really going to run out of time is my fear,” Select Board Member David Labonte said at a Dec. 1 meeting.

For nearly two years, Granby has discussed renovating the old West Street Elementary School into town offices. Municipal operations are currently split between the Council on Aging at 10 West State St., the Old Public Library at 1 Library Lane and Town Hall Annex at 215B West State St.

Town Meeting approved an 18-month extension on its lease on the Town Hall Annex, leaving a short window to find a replacement home.

Prior to the bid dispute, the project had moved along with few issues after Town Meeting approved $5.6 million for the work in June. The West Street Building Committee opened bids in September and received 10 bidders. The Planning Board approved the site plan on Oct. 28, and the septic system awaits approval from the Board of Health.

Recently, however, the third lowest bidder, Souliere & Zepka Construction in Adams, filed a bid protest against the two lowest bidders, Morris Construction LLC from Syracuse, New York, and City Enterprise Inc. from Springfield. The protester claims the other two companies low-balled their bids.

West Street Building Committee Chair Lynn Mercier said the attorney general’s office ordered that “status quo be maintained” until there is a ruling on the protest.

“At status quo, we are not allowed to award anything until the AG’s office decides whether or not the bid protest is viable or not,” Mercier told the Select Board on Dec. 1.

Mercier said the 10 bids ranged from $4.7 million to $5.7 million and were all very close together.

There is no timeline the office must respond by, Mercier said. She hopes the attorney general’s office will issue a hearing date or deny the protest before Christmas.

“If the AG’s office does not get back to us in a timely fashion, we will have to scrap these bids and go out again and bid because we have a timeline we have to get this done by,” Mercier said.

If the committee were to scrap the bids, a second bidding process would take an additional six to eight weeks. Construction will require nine months, putting the prospective end date very close to the Annex lease end.

The West Street Building Project calls for the abatement and renovation of 12,900 square feet of the first floor into offices for the town clerk, town administrator and the assessor’s, building and collection departments. There will also be municipal committee meeting rooms and shared space for the Board of Health, Planning Board and Conservation Commission. The $5.6 million estimate does not include the new Council on Aging that was in the original proposal.

The West Street Building Committee will decide how to proceed at its Dec. 9 meeting.

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