Time Crunched Back-to-School Lot Expansion Goes to Higher Bidder

During what might have been the shortest School Committee meeting ever in Middletown history, members met briefly Tuesday with a minimum three-person quorum and unanimously voted to hire the Narragansett Improvement Company to start work immediately on safety improvements to the Aquidneck Elementary School parking lot.

Gavel to gavel, the School Committee and administrators met for less than 10 minutes Tuesday solely to award the project bid with the hopes that the construction company would be able to relocate the school's bus drop-off zone away from car traffic before the new school year starts, along other parking lot improvements and expansion.

At the recommendation of school Facilities Director Edward Collins, the board chose the higher bid with Narragansett Improvement at $232, 391.50 over the less expensive proposal of $229,239.66 from William Anthony Excavation, because of Narragansett's proven track record with the school district.

"We've used them before and we're confident they can finish this job in time," Collins told school officials. Under a tight deadline last year, Narragansett Improvement performed lot improvements at the Gaudet Middle School and Learning Academy, he said, later adding, "Time was of the essence and they really did a great job pulling that off."

In spite of the nearly $3,000 price difference, Narragansett still came in with a proposal that was "well within the competitive range," he told members.

The Aquidneck Elementary School parking lot expansion project was reportedly designed, at the recommendation of Middletown Police, to improve safety at the bus boarding area and increase the number of parking spaces at the school, which serves Pre-K through Grade 3.

"Right now, the buses, the parents and general traffic enters and exits in one location," Collins told Patch in a recent interview. "It gets to be a bottleneck there and it's a safety concern."

The Middletown Public Schools Department last month put out bid proposals with the hope of beginning immediately and completing the first of four project phases before the start of the new school year in September.

Phase 1 will create a new lot entrance and exit off Aquidneck Avenue and will relocate the bus boarding area to the other side of the building, away from faculty traffic and parental drop-offs and pick-ups, said Collins.

When the total project is complete, the parking lot will have an additional 50 parking spots. The additional parking will also help alleviate other problems, he noted, such as cars parking on the grass or clogging Reservoir Avenue when ball games take place on the neighboring little league field or other functions at the school or recreational grounds.

Much of the traffic problem can be traced back when the addition was put on the school in the 1990s without adding more parking spaces to accommodate the increased staff, according to Collins. 

The expenditure is covered under the school department's previously earmarked capital improvement budget, according to school officials.

Also Tuesday, the School Committee hired Integrated Securities, Inc., of Foxboro, MA, to install a new smoke door at the Gaudet Learning Academy for $4,244.68, as well as new door hardware at the High School for $3,670.15 that would prevent visitors from entering the facility without being re-directed to the main office for check-in first.

"We really needed this meeting tonight to start these projects as soon as possible," said Superintendent Rosemarie Kraeger.