BY LUCY MAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Hamilton County commissioners expect to approve on Wednesday two more construction contracts for the Bengals' new Paul Brown Stadium.
The county's construction manager and Department of Public Works recommended Monday that the commissioners award a contract worth almost $8 million for concrete pilings to Richard Goettle Inc., of Pleasant Run, and a $70,904 contract for temporary fencing to Security Fence Group Inc., of Northside.
The construction bids to date have been $2 million lower than the county had budgeted.
"We are pleased by this trend and obviously hope it continues," County Commission President Tom Neyer Jr. said Monday.
The county had estimated the pilings work would cost $9.9 million and that the fencing would cost $90,000.
Berkel & Company Contractors, which is not local, offered a bid of $8.77 million for the pilings work, which will serve as the stadium's underground foundation. No other companies bid on the fencing work.
Getting only one bid for the fencing didn't surprise commissioners, but the fact that only two companies bid for $8 million worth of business surprised Mr. Neyer, he said.
"I'm not particularly concerned about it in this instance because I know the contractor well," said Mr. Neyer, a local developer. "I would have thought there were more people bidding on that part of the work."
Public Works Director Gary VanHart said Goettle made it known the company would bid aggressively to get the contract.
"He made it clear you were going to have to try real hard to beat him," he said.
