Millinocket council rejects pool project bid

MILLINOCKET – Disappointed that only one construction bid came in and unwilling to spend an extra $500,000 of town money, the Town Council will be working with an engineer to make the proposed community pool project less expensive to build.

Peter J. Tuell, an engineer at Civil Engineering Services Inc. of Brewer, will review the pool’s blueprints and talk with pool construction companies to see whether the pool can be built for less than $1.7 million, the sole, and unidentified, bidder’s asking price, Chairman David Nelson said.

“It kind of surprised us that the single bid was as high as it was and only one came in. With one bid you don’t know what the problem is, exactly,” Councilor Wallace Paul said Sunday.

“We have had some interesting offers to do part of the pool. We are looking at some other options rather than go with the single bid, but that’s not to say that the single bid is out. It just means that we’re taking another look at what it takes to get it done,” he added.

In late August, the council voted 6-0-1 and 7-0 to approve the pool’s final design and to authorize the application for a $1.2 million 15-year bond to cover the tentative cost of pool construction. The bond issue figure, Town Manager Eugene Conlogue said, is not necessarily synonymous with the construction costs.

The outdoor pool’s conceptual designs feature four racing lanes, a toddler wading area with safety rails, a mushroom fountain that sprays water, two diving boards, sloping sides and depths, and a large slide.

Other touches include a gently curved roof with sunroof, a bathhouse with changing rooms and a large grass strip suitable for sunbathing or light outdoor recreation. The pool will be located amid the town recreation complex near Stearns High School.

The council on Thursday voted 6-0 against accepting the bid. Councilor Matthew Polstein was absent. Nelson and Paul did not know how the delay would affect the pool’s proposed completion date and whether it would be ready next summer.

“That was up in the air, too, but it [the delay] can’t be helping. I would expect realistically that it sets us back a bit,” Paul said.

“We still have every intention to provide a pool for our citizens,” Nelson said.