by Frank Schroth
Yesterday was the deadline for bids to an RFP issued by the town for demolition services to remove the portion of the Hendries building owned by the town. The town received one bid for the job. Aside from being the only bidder, there are three notable items regarding the bid.
The amount of the bid, $347,224,95, is almost $100K higher than the amount that Town Meeting approved last May that Amount was $250,000. The bidder is Regional Industrial Services Corporation. This is the firm being employed by Carrick Realty to demolish their portion of the building.
The Massachusetts legislature recenlty enacted a bill that will permit the town to sell the land without going through the typical RFP process. The Selectmen are in the process of crafting a proposal to Carrick that would offer the town owned portion of the land in exchange for Carrick assuming responsibility for the entire demolition and buidling a mixed use builing of condos and commercial. Their current proposal for a 40B apartment building is currently before the Board of Appeals. The issue of the Hendries property, referred to as 0 Central Avenue, is on the Selectmen’s agenda for next Tuesday, August 12th. They will give an update on the proposal and also be discussing the matter in executive session.
It seems to me that Regional Industrial Services Corporation knows this is essentially a sole source bid because the town has made it clear it wants to use the same demolition contractor for coordination purposes. So Regional Industrial Services Corporation figured they could ask for whatever they want.
Also, such a high bid makes it more likely that the town will sell or give the property to Carrick in exchange for their taking on the demolition costs.
Once again the town finds itself in a great dilemma over this property.