Town Officials Open Bids For Berlin High School Project

Town of Berlin Public Works Director Art Simonian said Thursday that the bids for Phase I of the Berlin High School renovation project were opened and they were being compared.

"We had more than 80 bids come in and we are in the process of comparing them on spreadhseets right now," Simonian said. "I can't tell you if we are over budget or under budget but I can tell you they were all within about $100,000 of each other."

Berlin Mayor Adam Salina said while he hadn't talked to Simonian yet, he was confident the timeline set forth for the project would remain unchanged.

"We were hoping for a better bid package when the project was sent out to bid by FIP," Salina said. "While we go over the bids the construction documents are being completed. We have a meeting with the state in mid January that is basically a chance for them to check out our plans and see where we are.

"We are pretty confident that after that meeting, we will be able to have everything ready to go out to bid shorty thereafter. We hope to have those bids back by early spring. At the same time, we should have construction beginning on Phase I so there is a lot of activity coming up in a short time."

A volunteer group, called an Advisory Committee, has also been formed to help with communication between departments and the public. David Evans and Maggie Morelli from the Town Council, John Richards and Jeff Cugno from the Board of Education and residents Krista Hilbie and Art Powers make up the six-person committee.

They will attend Public Building Commission, Town Council and Board of Education meetings