Seekonk Select Board Splits 2-2 on Paving Bid, Orders Special Meeting

SEEKONK — June 10, 2026 — Seekonk Select Board deadlocks on paving contract and tables Medeiros Farm design award. The board split 2-2 twice on June 10 on competing motions to award a roughly $2.6-to-$3.2-million on-call pavement and sidewalk rehabilitation contract, first failing to approve J.H. Lynch and Sons of Cumberland, Rhode Island, then failing to approve the lowest bidder, Pawtucket Hot Mix Asphalt, Inc. Director of Public Works David Cabral recommended Lynch at approximately $3.2 million, writing in his memo that Pawtucket Hot Mix "lacks the necessary skill, ability, or integrity to perform this work in a timely manner," citing the firm's troubled performance on last year's Anthony Street sidewalk project. Town Administrator Sean Cadime argued the $592,000 price gap was significant enough to warrant awarding to the low bidder with outside engineering oversight at a cost of $150,000. Members Michael Healy and Chris Zara backed Lynch; members Elizabeth Posey and Gary Sagna backed Pawtucket Hot Mix with safeguards. The board agreed to solicit firm scheduling commitments from all three vendors and aim for a special meeting around June 18. Separately, a $549,450 design services contract for the Medeiros Farm recreational fields project was tabled to June 24, with Sagna and Posey insisting the Medeiros Farm Committee appear before the board to address unresolved zoning and traffic study questions before the town spends further on design.