Bids for Hampton trail project exceed estimate

As seems to happen frequently in most aspects of life these days, Hampton officials experienced sticker shock when they opened bids for the second and final phase of a trail project.

The lowest of four bids for completing construction at Hampton Community Park came in at $655,000, well above the estimate of $480,000 to $500,000, according to community services department director Kevin Flannery.

He presented the numbers during township council’s March 8 agenda meeting, noting that the second-lowest bid was $679,000 and the highest, $1.1 million.

Municipal manager Chris Lochner called the latter an outlier.

“The fact that the No. 1 and No. 2 bidders are so tight, though, leads us to believe that the specifications as written are not the problem,” he said. “The problem is that the scope of the project, the way we’ve addressed it, is probably not realistic for the budget that we have in play.”

According to information on the municipal website, the project’s second phase calls for construction of 2,285 feet of trail to loop around the back of Hampton Community Center. The initial phase involved nearly 3,900 feet, connecting the Rachel Carson Trail at the northernmost end of the park with the playground at the center.

The cost of stormwater management constituted about 25% of the bids, Lochner said. He expects council members to table awarding a contract at their March 22 regular meeting.

“We’ll come back with a couple of different alternatives,” he said. “Frankly, it’s a disappointment.”

A state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources grant is paying for part of the project, with the stipulation that it be completed by 2025.

In other business at council’s agenda meeting:

• Police Chief Thomas Vulakovich requested that council approve an upgrade to the township’s video surveillance system, also entering its second phase.

The cost, a maximum of $90,000, is in the municipal capital improvement budget for 2023. Vulakovich said his department received a quote, “and we are $280 under budget.”

Phase One also came in under budget, according to council member Jerry Speakman.

The initial part of the project included putting a new server into place, updating software and installing cameras outside the police department, community center and Hampton Community Swimming Pool.

Vulakovich said the second phase will feature the purchase and installation of cameras to cover parking lots, ball fields, playground areas and court areas at the community park, along with interior cameras at the community center and other township buildings.

• With proceeds raised from members of the police department participating in No Shave November, the chief told council they have selected two beneficiaries.

Aiden’s Helping Hands was established by Aiden Hanna, a Hampton High School sophomore who was diagnosed in the summer with osteosarcoma in his leg. The goal is to provide financial support for families of young cancer patients, with grant funding administered through UPMC Children,s Hospital of Pittsburgh, according to Vulakovich.

The other nonprofit chosen by police is the Liam Finnigan Music Program at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital, founded by Chris and Melanie Finnigan in honor of their son who was born prematurely and lived his three months in the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

“During that time, music was always something that seemed to soothe and comfort Liam,” Vulakovich said, noting that through the program named after him, his parents “provide sleep soothers to babies in the NICU, comforting them with lullabies and therapy options, and even voice recordings of their loved ones.”

He said that representatives of both organizations plan to attend the March 22 meeting to receive the donations.