Playgrounds, golf carts, solar pay station bids advance in Ocean City

A rendering by Commercial Recreation Products shows the planned look and design of new playgrounds planned for the Downtown Recreation Complex on St. Louis Avenue between Third and Fourth streets. The company was recently awarded a bid to complete the project.

Several Ocean City projects advanced this week with the opening and awarding of bids.

From solar energy accessories to the Downtown Recreation Complex playground, the list of proposals that City Council members approved and remanded to staff for review are as follows:

City Manager Terry McGean and Councilman Tony DeLuca, who serves as council secretary, opened four bids at a work session Tuesday for provision of 85 solar powered pay-by-plate pay stations and accompanying amenities.

McGean said the existing pay stations will be “exceeding their useful life,” prompting staff’s call for bids.

The bid was not typical, though, in that the amounts were not publicly shared during the work session.

McGean said the proposals were expected to come in with different financing options, such as subscription-based versus paying up front, which would have prevented an apples to apples comparison on the totals.

McGean suggested remanding all of the bids to staff for review and analysis for the most cost-effective option, which he said could ultimately be keeping the existing machines.

In response to the request, council members unanimously voted to forward the bids to staff with no other public discussion.

On July 14, bids were opened from companies vying for a winning cart lease contract at Eagles Landing Golf Course.

On Tuesday, council members voted, upon recommendation from staff, to award the contract to Georgia-based E-Z-GO Division of Textron Inc. for $143,520 a year, and a total $717,600 for five years.

The bid will cover 80 golf carts for the city-owned course at 12367 Eagles Nest Road in Berlin.

Three bids were submitted for the contract, two of which came in below the city’s $169,000 a year projected budget, and one that was above it. Two of the respondents also submitted five-year bids, with all of the companies offering GPS for the carts.

A Wisconsin-based company will construct a new playground at the Downtown Recreation Complex following council’s approval of a bid that came in right on budget.

Commercial Recreation Products LLC was one of six companies that submitted bids for the project, which consists of construction of two playgrounds at the complex on St. Louis Avenue between Third and Fourth streets. Officials opened the bids June 23.

The winning bid came in at exactly $502,000, which was the budgeted amount. All of the responses were at or close to the budget, and McGean said during the bid opening that he was not surprised because staff provided guidance for respondents to show what they could do with the budgeted amount.

Rec and Parks Director Susan Petito and Procurement Manager Scott Wagner said the bidding companies were called in to give presentations to staff to showcase their plans. And while the staff members said the decision was a tough one, Commercial Recreation Products stood out above the other companies.

“They gave us the best play value and biggest bang for our buck for the community,” Petito said.

The staff report said work on the playgrounds will begin as soon as possible after employees meet with company officials.

Resort staff members have been tasked to analyze bids from six companies vying to construct new playgrounds at the Downtown Recreation Complex on St. Louis Avenue.

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Cloudy skies with a few showers after midnight. Low 69F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.

Cloudy skies with a few showers after midnight. Low 69F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.

Cloudy with showers. High 78F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.

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