Ocean City finds out how much Boardwalk safety project will cost

Five construction companies are vying for the chance to make Ocean City's Boardwalk safer for pedestrians.

The Ocean City Town Council recently received bids from these construction companies to move forward with the Boardwalk access plan, which includes safety barriers along the perimeter of the Boardwalk and inlet parking lot.

Why is Ocean City doing this?

The project was originally proposed last fall after multiple deliberate attacks on pedestrians involving vehicles occurred in cities across the United States and abroad. In the last four years, at least 15 such attacks have happened around the world, according to USA Today.

The Ocean City mayor and council started Phase 1 of the project — installing temporary barriers around the Boardwalk and inlet parking lot — last fall. Now, the town is moving toward permanent installation of safety barriers.

Background:Ocean City in 'sticker shock' at $4.26 million cost to prevent attacks on Boardwalk

Background:Ocean City cuts cost of Boardwalk safety barriers by $1.27 million

'Sticker shock' at first estimate 

In July, when the initial price assessment was made, the overall price of the project was estimated to be $4.26 million — roughly four times more than originally expected by town officials.

Since the Town Council expressed "sticker shock" over that estimation, City Engineer Terry McGean has worked to bring the price down. During Tuesday's council meeting, he said the current cost estimation is about $2.8 million.

What were the bids?

Several construction companies put in competitive bids to the council to become the vendor of the safety project.

The lowest bid of $1,954,380 came from Hercules Fence. The company, which specializes in residential, commercial and high-security fencing, has several locations through Virginia and one in Maryland.

Two local companies — Apex Construction from Ocean City and Harkins Concrete Construction out of Salisbury — made bids for the project as well. Apex offered $2,051,000 and Harkins gave $3,368,191, which was the highest bid.

The fourth construction company, Atlantic Fence and Supply based in Hanover, Maryland, gave two bid options. The first was $2,540,330.30 and the second was $2,838,747.30. It was unclear to town officials as they read the bids why this company made two offers.

What now?

Council member Matt James made a motion during the work session to remand the bids to staff for review. He also recognized Hercules Fence as the lowest bidder.

After review by town officials, the winning bid will be announced during a later Town Council meeting.

Town officials hope to have the project construction complete by May 2019, before the summer season starts back up again.

Contact reporter Sara Swann at (302) 324-7711, sswann@delmarvanow.com or on Twitter @saramswann.

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