WILTON — The Board of Selectpersons awarded a total bid of $365,922 Thursday to Pratt & Son of Hebron for the Downtown Revitalization project.

The board tabled the decision Tuesday to acquire more information about the bids.

E.L. Vining & Son of Farmington also bid a total of $414,407 on the project.

A portion of the Vining bid was nonconforming: $47,000 for mobilization exceeded the 10 percent allowed from the total bid, Town Manager Rhonda Irish said.

Mobilization is defined as “activation of a contractor’s physical and manpower resources for transfer to a construction site until the completion of the contract.”

The total bids included an alternate amount to cover 700 linear feet of directional drilling for underground electrical service, she said.

With the lower Pratt & Son bid, plus a cost of $37,175 for lights, the project is already $3,097 over the $400,000 Downtown Revitalization grant received through the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development.

The board previously discussed the potential for taking out some benches or trash receptacles or taking funds from the town’s Tax Increment Financing district to cover the overage.

The board also approved spending up to $10,000 to contract with Wright-Pierce for engineering oversight of the downtown reconstruction.  

Wright-Pierce would be responsible for reviewing the work and ensuring it meets specifications, Darryl Sterling, community development coordinator, said.

The funds would have to be supplied by the town or the TIF program, Irish said.

Irish recently learned that the board cannot authorize spending TIF funds without taking the request to voters at town meeting.

 The board plans to hold a special town meeting, perhaps in September, to ask voters to amend the program and allow spending by a vote of the board.

abryant@sunmediagroup.net