Out of the 16 construction companies that bid, Montagno provided the lowest cost estimate for the project.

With most figures ranging between $7 and $9 million, Montagno's bid was $6,985,000.

The bid also included the add alternates, which are typically added to municipal construction projects if the project comes in under budget and there is leftover funding available.

Included in the alternates for the Polk Project are: Improvements to the athletic field at $117,860, double tier metal lockers at $7,000, tile carpeting in two-thirds area of each classroom at $37,568, improved air conditioning units at $34,244, digital climate control system at $29,208, fire alarm equipment at $3,022, alternate pricing for locks, exit devices and closers at $2,930, new ceiling grids at $64,444 and a final cleaning of the building at $20,159.

An amount totaling $12,517,000, with $11 million earmarked for construction, was originally authorized for the Polk School renovations.

"It's about 30 percent under budget.

"Because it's going to be a general contractor model, there's going to be some adjustments in costs in monitoring the project and purchases," said Gary Miller, the Board of Education's interim director of operations, in a telephone interview.

Mr. Miller represented the under-budget bids as "a significant overall savings for the town as there will be money that won't need to be bonded."

Mr. Miller couldn't get into specific details, such as how much money can be saved, as adjustments to the construction budget have not yet been made.

"When it was a $12.5 million project, there were a number of things that were cut out or had restricted budgets and we need to revise some of those," Mr. Miller said.