One is the loneliest number.
And it may not be enough for Anna Maria officials to move forward on a planned project.
Mayor Dan Murphy said May 12 the city received a single bid in response to its request for proposals to improve Pine Avenue’s sidewalks, crosswalks and lighting in the first phase of the city’s efforts to “reimagine” the corridor.
The first phase of improvements will involve installing meandering paver sidewalks, as well as adding and enhancing crosswalks and street lighting.
Phase 2, for which the city has yet to present plans, will involve adding bicycle paths on both sides of Pine and converting the trolley turnaround at the northeast end to include room for delivery trucks.
The city projected the first phase of improvements to cost about $1.363 million. It budgeted $73,000 and is requesting $1,288,440 in state appropriations to fund the remainder of phase 1.
The appropriation request passed both the Senate and House and made it to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk. DeSantis can line-item veto any part of the 2022-23 budget, but it remained untouched on his desk as of May 13.
Murphy said the proposal from Sarasota-based C-Squared CGC was for $2 million.
C-Squared previously repaired pervious paver crosswalks in Bradenton Beach and recently was hired by Holmes Beach for $2.75 million to complete “city center” improvements — somewhat similar work to Anna Maria’s Pine Ave. project.
Murphy said he and city staff hadn’t had the chance to review the bid, which would go back to city commissioners with a staff recommendation before the end of the month.
He said he is concerned about the cost of lighting, which accounted for about half the bid, and said the city may want to explore alternatives.
Murphy said the bid was a good “starting point” but not an “ending point.” He said, as a jack-of-all-trades, hiring C-Squared may be more expensive than seeking specialists to complete the work separately since C-Squared may need to subcontract portions of the job to specialists.
Commissioners Robert Kingan and Deanie Sebring voiced support for potentially breaking up and reissuing the RFP to seek more bids.
In the meantime, Bradenton-based Woodruff & Sons is installing stormwater infiltration trenches along Pine for the city’s budgeted expansion of the drainage infrastructure.
Murphy said the work will take three weeks.
The commission will meet next at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 26, at city hall, 10005 Gulf Drive. The meeting will be open to the public. Directions to attend via Zoom can be found at cityofannamaria.com.