May 15, 2013
Rhode Island

Portsmouth turbine repair job goes back out to bid

By Jim McGaw | May 15, 2013 | www.eastbayri.com

PORTSMOUTH – Now that negotiations with two parties interested in fixing the town’s broken wind turbine have broken down, the Town Council is sending the project back out to bid.

In 2007 voters approved a $3 million bond issue for the turbine, which sits behind the tennis courts at the high school. It’s been idle since June 2012 due to a broken gear box, and the town has been weighing its options ever since.

In December the town received four responses for its request for proposals (RFP), two of which were deemed worthy of further negotiations. Since then, however, Town Planner Gary Crosby said negotiations broke down as the two sides got closer to the contract language. “Things got a little dicier and they just couldn’t follow through,” Mr. Crosby told the council Monday night.

He requested that the council put the RFP “back on the street.”

“We’ve been speaking to a couple of interested parties who did not respond to the (original) RFP but are very interested in doing so (now),” said Mr. Crosby, adding that he’d also like to see the RFP amended to include “broader responses.”

He said he wants to put the matter out to bid for three to four weeks and then negotiate with the interested parties. The council approved his request unanimously.

[rest of article available at source]

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/05/15/portsmouth-turbine-repair-job-goes-back-out-to-bid/