SLAYTON -- Members of the Shetek Area Water and Sewer (SAWS) Commission received a little good news Thursday afternoon, as Bolton & Menk engineers opened the bid envelopes for the proposed centralized sewer system around Lake Shetek, Lake Sarah and Bloody Lake.
The bid process was split into two separate projects -- the completion of a wastewater collection system and construction of wastewater stabilization ponds.
Three contractors submitted bids on the two-part collection system project, which had been estimated by Bolton & Menk engineers to cost approximately $11 million. Of the bidders, Duininck Brothers, Inc. presented the low bid of $5,930,394.60 for Alternate A, and $5,623,853.44 for Alternate B. No additions or deductions to the bid were offered if the contractor was awarded both phases.
Rice Lake Construction's bid on the collection system was $7,090,640 for Alternate A, and $7,033,135 for Alternate B. Again, no additions or deductions to the bid were offered in the event Rice Lake was awarded both phases.
GM Contracting offered a bid for Alternate B only, at a cost of $5,909,587.18.
ADVERTISEMENT
Four contractors submitted bids on the wastewater stabilization ponds, which had been estimated by Bolton & Menk to cost between $1.8 million to $2 million.
The low bid of $1,643,286 was offered by Mathiowetz Construction, while R&G Construction offered to complete the ponds for $1,770,000. Other bids for the project were $2,021,500 from Park Construction Co., and $3,170,067 from Hydro Engineering.
John Peterson, head engineer for the centralized sewer project, will now examine the bids more closely. He plans to meet with the SAWS Commission on Monday to discuss the bids in further detail.
The commission has 60 days from the bid opening to award the project to contractors.
SAWS Commission vice chair Jon Hoyme said the cost of the project has been a major concern throughout the multi-year discussion process.
"(The bids) fit within the estimate, so that's cool," he said. "That was our big concern -- (if they were) going to come within the estimate."
Hoyme said "assuming everything goes ahead," the centralized sewer project around the lakes will begin yet this year, with completion in 2007.
