By MEGAN DOOLEY

Chilmark selectmen were forced to accept the higher of two bids for the construction of three affordable housing rental duplexes at Middle Line Road, after the low bidder was disqualified this week.

Selectmen voted to accept the $1.9 million bid from Seaver Construction of Woburn on Tuesday night. The winning bid was some $33,000 higher than the second and only other bid submitted.

“The low bid turned out to have a defect,” said executive secretary Tim Carroll after the meeting. “It had to be rejected.”

The town is looking for savings wherever it can to make up the difference, and to cover the landscaping portion of the project, which is separate from the construction of the buildings. “We haven’t resolved how we’re going to fund the landscaping,” said Mr. Carroll at the meeting. “We’re going to have to seek additional funding.”

The selectmen agreed. “If we award this contract as it stands we’re very close to our budgeted amount and we have a very low contingency fund, but at the same time we have some areas where we know we can gain some additional savings by doing the construction in a [more economical] way,” said selectman and board chairman Warren Doty.

After the meeting, Mr. Carroll listed some possible areas of savings. “There’s some cast iron pipes in the plumbing section that we’ll take out; that will save us $3,000. There’s a couple pieces of something else that will save us $3,000. There’s little things throughout the project that hopefully will bring us down,” he said.

Selectmen also said they would try to negotiate some additional reductions in price once the contract is signed. By law, they cannot negotiate reductions before they have a signed contract.

Mr. Carroll said that the town hopes to break ground on the three rental duplexes, which will hold a total of six units, this month.