City to review sewer project bids
 
By Tony Waggoner
Today's News-Herald - Lake Havasu City, Arizona
 
The Lake Havasu City Council is expected to hold a special meeting Wednesday to discuss awarding a bid for the Neptune Area Sewer Project as part of the Wastewater System Expansion Program.

The Neptune area is comprised of approximately 750 properties, bordered by Arizona State Lands and Simitan Drive.

As part of the project, the bidder awarded the contract is expected to install manholes, sanitary sewer mainline, sanitary sewer laterals for connecting properties to the sewer and to work towards property restoration.

The city submitted plans and specifications to 39 interested bidders. Five bids were received from Tonto Supply out of Colorado City, AZ, S.J. Louis Construction from Phoenix, S-2 Contractors out of Aurora, OR, Wagner Place from South International Falls, MN and Hammerlund Construction from Grand Rapids, MI.

Tonto Supply responded with the lowest bid for the project at around $3.7 million. That number is well under the engineer estimate of around $5.2 million for the project.

AMEC has conducted a review and evaluation of all five bids for the project. AMEC acknowledged the two lowest bidders, Tonto Supply and S.J. Louis Construction, had done similar work before within a reasonable timeframe and contract amount. Both companies were given a satisfaction grade by their former clients.

An amount of $7.2 million is available in the WWSE Neptune Area Sewers.

A packet released by the city indicates the budget amount for the Neptune project is around $10.7 million. $9.4 million is available for the project for the 2008-09 fiscal year, with the remaining amount set for the 2009-10 fiscal year.

Bid awarding was delayed, in part, due to discussion of paving alternatives. The city had also hoped to incorporate the project as part of the Federal Economic Stimulus Package. The bid for the project must be awarded by Jan. 26, 2009 before the bids expire.

The breakdown of alternate bids for the project includes the replacement of all water service lines from plastic service lines to copper water service lines. The city indicated a growing number of service line breaks are becoming more and more difficult to maintain. At a bid amount of $366,500, city staff is recommending the council approve a contract with S.J. Louis Construction for alternate bid No. 1 for the project.

Alternate bid No. 2 is for the removal and replacement of existing pavement in the project area. City staff is looking to S.J. Louis Construction to replace the existing pavement with 2-inch asphaltic concrete. The bid amount for the project from S.J. Louis is around $3 million.

S.J. Louis is also the lowest bidder for alternate bid No. 3, the patching of specific planned widths of the street for mainline, laterals and water service installation. S.J. Louis has estimated the project cost at around $1.8 million for this portion.

Alternate bid No. 4 is for installation of backwater valves to 420 properties in the Neptune sewer area. Developed under International Plumbing Code requirements, the estimate for this portion of the project is around $50,400 from S.J. Louis.

If the council approves staff’s recommendation, bids for alternate No. 1, alternate No. 2 and alternate No. 4 for the Wastewater System Expansion Neptune Area Sewers project would be awarded for an amount not to exceed $7,566,755.

The special meeting of the City Council will be held Wednesday, Jan. 21, at 4:30 p.m. inside the council chambers at the Police Facility.

You may contact this reporter at twaggoner@havasunews.com.
 
HavasuNews.com
Originally published Sunday, January 18, 2009
 
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