The Biddeford City Council rejected bids to build a new Gilbert Boucher Bathhouse at Biddeford Pool Beach this month.

Companies interested in providing service to build the bath house will be able to rebid in January.

The city issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) to build a new bath house and lifeguard station in July, and received four bids in total.

At a City Council meeting on Nov. 7, several councilors cited high cost as the main reason for rejecting the bids.

“It’s hard to justify that level of expense,” Councilor Norman Belanger (Ward 6) said. “I think we need to do something, but I think we should wait until the numbers start to fall.”

The lowest bid was for $180,984, while the highest was for $431,628.

Advertisement

Biddeford Code Enforcement Director Roby Fecteau said the original budget voted on for the project was $352,000, which would include a sewer component for bathrooms at Biddeford Pool Beach.

The project was brought forward after storm destruction made the existing bath house and lifeguard station unusable, Fecteau said.

This summer, temporary structures were put in place at Biddeford Pool Beach, including temporary restrooms that cost $15,000 to rent for the summer.

Biddeford Parks and Recreation Director Lisa Thompson said the structures were “a lot of work.”

“There wasn’t one week that went by that we didn’t have to call in (for) someone to look at one of those units having issues all summer,” Thompson said. “The public appreciated them, but they were a lot of work.”

The beach also had a temporary shed for lifeguard triage and equipment, which Thompson said worked well, but is not sustainable.

Advertisement

“The staff did a great job with it, but I don’t see it being something that we would want to do for too much longer,” she said.

Mayor Martin Grohman suggested putting pause on the project to find a solution that will be more cost effective and sustainable for the Biddeford Pool community.

He also said he would like to find a solution that works in tandem with the coastal resilience work being done by the city.

“We don’t want to build something that’s going to get washed away in the next storm,” Grohman said.

But with summer beach goers reaching an average of over 1,000 people per day at Biddeford Pool Beach, Councilor Marc Lessard was hesitant to table the project.

“I think we need to put this back out for bid and figure out a way to get this done,” Lessard said. “We can’t go another summer with a temporary building for thousands of people.”

Advertisement

Another option, some said, would be to build the structures using in-house resources such as city staff and community contractors.

This idea, Fecteau said, could potentially be feasible.

“I think that’s something we can do,” Fecteau said.

Further discussion on the bath house bid and construction will take place in January.

 

 

Comments are not available on this story.