A lack of qualified bidders has stalled the Andover Permanent Town Building Advisory Committee’s efforts to move forward with a study for an interim plan to improve conditions at Andover High School.
A November special town meeting shot down a request for $1.3 million to complete a detailed design of a new high school. At the same time, Andover’s legislative body approved $500,000 to study around $50 million in possible improvements to prolong the life of the existing school. The permanent town building committee has taken the lead on the so-called interim approach, which is aimed at extending the life of the existing school until Andover is in a better financial position to build a new one.
The committee received just one bid for its request for proposals in May. State law requires at least three bids before the committee can make a decision. A second round of bidding closed on June 13, and the committee is expected to review those bids when it meets on Thursday.
“We heard from some firms that they were just awarded a school project so they couldn’t take on work,”Town Manager Andrew Flanagan, who sits on the committee, said at its June meeting. “One firm the size of the project and the fit of the project wasn’t right for them based on their distance from Andover.”
The June bid was for a project manager which would help the committee review and rework its request for proposals for a design firm.
The permanent town building committee is scheduled to meet Thursday at 8 a.m. and discuss the high school project as part of its regular meeting agenda. The meeting will be broadcast on AndoverTV.