SHARON

Bids for a new security surveillance system at Sharon High School came in higher than anticipated but there's really no way to cut the costs, according to the district business manager.

Blackhawk Neff Inc., New Castle, was the low bidder for the security system at $177,148, Greer Hayden of HHSDR Architects Engineers, Sharon, said Wednesday.

Hayden said the security system includes 48 cameras operated by two servers, four live monitors and cameras with pan, tilt, and zoom features for areas that can hold large amounts of people, such as the school entrance, the gymnasium and the cafeteria.

The low bid was $22,000 more than budgeted, according to school Business Manager James Wolf. The only way to substantially cut the cost is to remove a server and that would mean cutting the number of cameras nearly in half, Wolf said.

Each server costs about $26,000 and will service 28 cameras, Hayden said.

Director Richard Mancino wondered about the nearly $77,000 difference between Blackhawk Neff's bid and the next lowest bid.

Director Dominick Russo said he spoke with a representative from Blackhawk Neff who told him they were able to bid low on the project because company employees are familiar with the building. Blackhawk Neff has been doing electrical work in the high school throughout the renovation project.

Hayden and Ralph Trenga, district maintenance supervisor, both said the company is very familiar with the layout of the building.

Wolf said contractors should have walked through the building before making their bids, but none did.

Hayden asked directors to make a decision about the security system soon so that work can begin and end by December. Directors are expected to make a decision Monday.