From The Press of Atlantic City — Poor economy brings bids $8.3M. lower than expected — The poor economy has given two area school districts something to smile about.

The city is set to welcome two new schools in the fall of 2010 – a high school and a middle school.

Work on the Cedar Creek High School, which will be the third high school in the Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District, is already under way. And site preparations for the construction of Egg Harbor City School District’s new middle school are expected to start next week.

The anticipated price tag for the two projects was approximately $83.4 million, said Larry Hanover of the state’s School Development Authority, but the struggling economy helped the projects’ bids to come in about $8.3 million less than expected.

“It is kind of odd to say this, due to the tough economic times. But in a way, this is a good time to be bidding out for a project,” said John Gilly III, the superintendent of the Egg Harbor City School District. “General contractors want to keep their men working, and they know if they want to work, they have to submit bids that are very competitive. That’s it in a nutshell.”

The school district’s “construction cost estimate” for the new 61,954-square-foot, two-story middle school was nearly $18 million, according to Gilly. But the district accepted an offer from the Millville-based Tamburro Brothers Construction Company in December that was about $2.8 million less than the estimate.

Tamburro Brothers was one of 12 construction companies that bid on the project, which Hanover called “unprecedented.”

“Normally there are only about five or six bidders for a project this size,” said Hanover, adding that the new schools will also create thousands of jobs. “This certainly represents a silver lining during a grim economy.”

Steel beams are already towering above the 66-acre site at Duerer Street and Hamburg Avenue where Cedar Creek High School will sit. That project was expected to cost nearly $65.4 million, Hanover said, but Terminal Construction Corporation of Wood-Ridge, Bergen County, was hired for only $59.85 million.

Greater Egg Harbor Superintendent Adam Pfeffer said there are restrictions on what the district can do with any money left over when the project is completed.

And since the projects are being completed in conjunction with the School Development Authority – which Hanover said is funding 65 percent of these projects – the districts will actually only recoup 35 percent of any remaining funds when construction finishes in 2010.

“It will either have to be used for the project or sent back to the taxpayers,” said Pfeffer, adding that expenses such as textbooks, general classroom materials and janitorial supplies were not included in the initial estimates.

Gilly admitted he has little say over what his district’s likely savings will be used for but said he knows where it should go.

“I have been so very thankful that the Egg Harbor City voters overwhelmingly approved this project,” Gilly said. “In my mind, I want to make sure that that money gets back to the taxpayers. They deserve to get it back.”

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