The Providence Board of Contract & Supply opened bids on July 20 for a boiler replacement and asbestos abatement project at a city high school, with offers ranging from $85,130 to $308,000.
The board, which reviews and awards the city's purchasing contracts, met at 2 p.m. that Monday. Nine of its twelve members were recorded present, enough for a quorum — the minimum number needed to conduct business. A deputy city solicitor was noted for the record as attending. The board first voted by voice to elect its chairperson.
Bids opened
Bid opening is not an award. The board reads the prices into the record and then sends them to staff for review, so none of the figures below represent a signed contract.
- High school boiler and asbestos abatement (Department of Public Property): four bids were read, at $308,000, $253,043, $167,380 and $85,130. The spread between the highest and lowest offer is roughly $223,000.
- Commissioning agent for a fourth phase of Providence public school projects (Department of Public Property): three bids were read, at $620,310, $575,600 and $188,000. A commissioning agent verifies that building systems in a construction project actually work as designed before the city accepts them.
- Social media content creation for the Parks Department: one bid was read, at $27,720.
- Stenographic services, a two-year contract with two one-year options: one bid was received. The chair asked for a price to be read; the amount is not clear in the recording.
- Minor construction renovations and on-call trade services (Department of Public Property): four responses were received. The board stated the item will remain unawarded and described it as a request for information rather than a contract award.
Items with no bidders
Two solicitations drew no responses and will go back out for advertisement: housing information, education, outreach and fair housing services for the Department of Housing and Human Services, a one-year contract with two one-year options; and parking signs, sign posts and related parking administration materials for the Department of Public Works. The fair housing services contract has now failed to attract a bid at least twice, according to the discussion at the meeting. Re-advertising means the work is delayed until the city can find a vendor.
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The board voted by voice to refer the opened bids to the clerk's office, to approve the advertisements listed on the agenda, and to re-advertise the two items that drew no bids. It then approved items 1 through 47 in the review section on a roll call vote; the clerk announced eight ayes, one nay and three absent, and the motion carried. The transcript does not identify which item or items drew the dissent, and no discussion of the 47 items was recorded — a department head confirmed there were no items flagged for separate review.
Minutes from the board's July 13 meeting were approved by voice vote with no edits or questions. The meeting then adjourned.
What's next
The bids read into the record go to the clerk's office and city staff for evaluation before any award comes back to the board. The two re-advertised solicitations will be posted again through the city's purchasing process. The board meets on Mondays; residents who want to see the full bid tabulations and award recommendations can request them through the city's purchasing office.
This account is drawn from the Providence Board of Contract & Supply's published meeting recording.