Construction costs have not decreased

Gasoline has already been subject to price drops with the oil downturn, but the cost of construction projects such as road paving and building renovations have yet to experience the same type of decline.

The price of construction materials and labor has not decreased since the start of the downturn in late November, according to experts in various sectors of development. Its too early to tell when, or if, materials and labor will become cheaper, but some have optimism for better prices.

We havent noticed anything yet; everything seems to be as it has been, said Assistant City Manager Robert Patrick, who oversees the citys construction projects. But we do anticipate that some costs could go down in the future, of course, depending on the market.

Patrick is currently overseeing the citys $8.1 million landfill entrance renovation, a project that indicates construction jobs might be getting cheaper but is not definitive proof that prices have already decreased. The city is adding new weigh-in scales, a larger office building with new computers and asphalt on the roadway to reduce the long lines at the entrance.

Originally, Midland-based Onyx General Contractors bid the project at $11 million, but the city rejected that bid in January. On Tuesday, City Council approved Onyxs new bid of $8.1 million.

While all this happened in the early months of the current oil price decline, the second bid was lower because of various factors, not necessarily because of the price of oil.

Morris Williams, city of Midland director of the solid waste department, thinks there was a $3 million decrease because more bidders participated in the second round.

I dont know all the factors, but my guess would be that (Onyx) looked at the project a little more seriously because some other jobs were toning down a bit, Williams said.

John Darnell, operations manager of Onyx General Contractors, said that the company was the only one that placed a bid the first time the project was bidded out and that subcontractors made the bid very inflated.

So for the re-bid process, which lasted one month as opposed to two weeks the first time, Onyx talked with subcontractors to really see how much this project could cost. Two other companies competed with Onyx when re-bidding took place.

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Construction costs have not decreased