Region could get a bit more for its federal stimulus buck

Bids for one of the region's largest federal stimulus projects have come in far lower than expected, potentially freeing up $1 million-plus in federal money that could go to other local projects.

The state allocated a little more than $2 million in federal stimulus funds for repairs to the Old Colchester Road bridge in Montville. Because the bridge work is a municipal project, the town is overseeing it.

Montville received 12 bids for the work, ranging from a low of just over $728,000 to a high of $1.5 million. Mayor Joseph Jaskewicz said Monday the town is considering the two lowest bids and expects to make a decision in about a week.

According to the state Department of Transportation, Mastrobattisto Inc. is the apparent low bidder at $728,376.51, while New England Road is second lowest at $824,749.75. The DOT called the bids unofficial because they haven't all been fully reviewed.

Jaskewicz said he was surprised at both the number of bids and the rock-bottom prices.

"A lot of the bids across the state had been coming in 30 to 40 percent (lower than allocations), but this is down there," he said. "This is more than 50 percent."

Because Montville apparently won't need all of the stimulus money awarded to it, the region is allowed to use that "extra" funding elsewhere. The region's mayors and first selectmen might vote on a new plan at a meeting of the Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments next week.

In this case, the reshuffling will likely look like this:

• The region sends Montville's leftover stimulus funds to any or all of several other projects: the Montauk Avenue improvement in New London; the Streetscape in Groton City; and the Route 32 intersection improvement in Waterford. The estimates for each of those projects came in higher than originally projected, but too late for their stimulus allocations to be readjusted.

• Another pot of federal money that would have been used to cover the funding gap in the above-listed stimulus projects will subsequently be freed up. The council voted earlier this year to use STP Urban funds to close the gap and spare municipalities from having to make up hundreds of thousands of dollars in the shortfall created by the erroneous estimates on the stimulus projects.

The council expects to have about $2.5 million in urban funds next year, but won't know for sure until Congress reauthorizes its federal transportation bill (originally scheduled for September but pushed back to at least January).

The stimulus funds need to be obligated - or contracts in place - by March, said the council's executive director, James Butler, while the STP urban funds don't carry the same time-sensitive deadline.

The council's executive committee will recommend to the full council at its meeting next week that the region use the leftover Montville stimulus funds toward the remaining stimulus projects; the full council will decide whether to do so and how to allocate the funds.

None of the other three local stimulus projects has gone out to bid yet, so those figures are as yet unknown.

It remains to be seen which local projects might benefit from the reshuffling. The council has not yet allocated its federal urban funds for next year.