Town council approves bid for road maintenance

By M.K. Luther -- mkluther@nvdaily.com

FRONT ROYAL -- Front Royal Town Council on Monday unanimously approved a bid for asphalt materials to be used for routine road maintenance and repair for the next year.

Front Royal purchasing agent Cindy Hartman asked that the bid for base, intermediate and finished asphalt from Stuart M. Perry Inc. be accepted.

The cost of the asphalt was already provided for in the public works budget for fiscal year 2011, Hartman said.

The town-owned trucks will actually transport the asphalt from the Riverton-based paving facility to a site, Hartman said, and the bid does not include the cost of transportation.

The approved bid is also separate from a paving contract, according to the bid approval request.

A bid opening was held July 13, according to information from Hartman.

Two companies, Stuart M. Perry and Superior Paving, submitted bids for the asphalt. The bids covered prices for this month through June 2011.

Superior Paving submitted bids for $57 per ton and Stuart M. Perry submitted a bid for $56.15 per ton for all three asphalt types.

The asphalt is regular patch supply used only on secondary streets and roadways and not major paving projects, the request states.

"This is just for repair work," Hartman said.

The town accepts bids based on an approximated tonnage, Hartman said, because the actual amount used can vary depending on the season and the volume of needed repairs.

Typically, the majority of road patching and minor repair work is completed during the spring and summer months, Hartman said, and the amount of asphalt to be used can fluctuate depending on the severity of the past winter's weather.

"We usually use the same tonnage when we bid out," Hartman said.