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WINDSOR

Construction firms appear eager to work with the town of Windsor on the building of a new public works building.

According to Brian Camden, construction program manager for Alpha Corporation, the town received a total of 17 responses to its request for bids on April 22. Alpha is serving as Windsor’s construction program manager for the project, having previously worked with the town in 2018 on the renovation of the Windsor Town Center.

“Typically we get about four to eight bids,” Camden said. “Last month, I bid a site improvement project at the Western Tidewater Regional Jail and only got two bids. But 17 bids is really unheard of.”

Seven bids are within the town’s $680,000 budget for the project, with the lowest coming in at $524,800. Despite an anticipated loss of revenue over the coming months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the town is still planning to select one of the bidders and move forward with the project, as money had already been set aside for its completion.

“I think companies want to keep their employees working during this time of financial and health stress,” said Windsor’s interim town manager, Sanford “Sandy” Wanner, when asked to speculate on why the town had received an unusually high number of bids.

His predecessor, Michael Stallings, agreed.

“My guess is right now people are hungry with what’s going on; their other projects may have been canceled,” said Stallings, who as of April 20 is now serving as the town manager of Smithfield.

Windsor’s Town Council plans to award the contract to one of the bidders at its May meeting.