SAFETY HARBOR — Since June, R.E. Purcell Construction Co. has resurfaced Philippe Parkway, constructed medians and placed hundreds of plants in traffic islands. Two months ahead of schedule and under budget, the $378,000 project is nearly complete.
"He has performed very well," City Engineer Bill Baker said.
So well that on Monday, the city bypassed a bidding process and handed Purcell nearly a half-million dollars in additional road work.
There's nothing fishy about that. State purchasing laws allow municipalities to piggyback on existing contracts so that small towns like Safety Harbor can save time and money.
Safety Harbor has 60 miles of streets and tries to resurface between 5 and 6 miles of them every year.
"If you don't," Baker said, "you start losing the base and you have to completely rebuild it."
An asphalt street top, on the other hand, lasts anywhere from seven to 15 years.
In 2010, Safety Harbor will resurface 5 miles of roadways across the city.
Rather than advertise for a new contract, the city figured it was smarter to extend the one it had with Purcell, the lowest of 17 bidders on the Philippe Parkway job.
"He has agreed to keep working at a price that we can't get anywhere else," Baker said.
Purcell offered to do the work for $450,000, which will bump the original contract from $378,943.75 to $828,943.75. Other companies would have charged between $1,700 and $28,000 more for the same work, Baker said.
Commissioners did not object to the no-bid process.
"The advantage is these guys are ready to go," Commissioner Joe Ayoub said. "We don't have to spend a lot of time going through the whole process. We know we've got a really good price so let's just get it done."
"Not to mention that we already have the equipment on site," Commissioner Mary Lynda Williams said.
Safety Harbor also will restripe some roadways. Another company will be awarded that project because Purcell does not do restriping. That will cost an additional $50,000. All of the money will come from the city's street resurfacing program.
Also on Monday:
Stormwater runoff from Safety Harbor contributes 5 tons of nitrogen into Old Tampa Bay, and the City Commission agreed to stay within that allowable limit.
The Southwest Florida Water Management District and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection will monitor levels to ensure the city stays within compliance. If Safety Harbor goes over that limit, it could face fines and other penalties. Nitrogen can feed harmful algae blooms, like one this summer that stretched 14 miles from Safety Harbor to Weedon Island. Harmful algae growth reduces oxygen available to fish.
Rodney Thrash can be reached at rthrash@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4167.
FAST FACTS
More road work
In addition to Philippe Parkway, these streets are tentatively scheduled for resurfacing:
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