Bids received for lift station (02/03/06)

A project which could ease some of the burden on a lift station located on Portland’s west side is back on track.

Members of the Portland Board of Works opened bids Thursday afternoon for construction work on the city’s planned Gerber gravity sewer project.

The apparent low bid of $620,879 was submitted by LPI Paving, Excavating and Concrete of Portland. That bid was submitted to the engineer on the project for review.

City officials announced in October that the project — originally expected to begin in late 2005 — had been postponed indefinitely because the cost of pipe needed for the project had increased by more than $60,000.

At that time, pipe was scarce because most of it comes from mills located in regions heavily damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and few of those mills were operating.

Bob Brelsford, wastewater treatment plant supervisor, said this morning that the project is moving forward because the cost of pipe has fallen.

Work is expected to begin in a couple of months or sooner, and will take about three months to complete, Brelsford said.

The project involves running a sewer line south down Park Street between Votaw and Water streets, then east to an alley, between Middle and Pleasant streets.

The project is designed to reduce the amount of sewage handled by the north lift station.

Currently, the north lift — located on Industrial Park Drive, east of where the Wal-Mart SuperCenter is being constructed — is doing more work than it can handle. During heavy rains, the lift station overflows, causing storm and wastewater to flow into the Sipe-Wehrly Ditch.

Board members voted Thursday to present the lowest bid to officials with Triad Associates, Inc. of Indianapolis to review. Triad is doing the engineering work on the project.

The board will vote at a later date on the bid based on the opinions of Triad officials. The vote could take place as soon as the next meeting, said Bruce Hosier, mayor of Portland. That meeting has not yet been set.

Also submitting bids on the project were: J.G. Case Construction Inc., Muncie, $641,125; Jutte Excavating, Fort Recovery, $654,460.30; Culy Construction and Excavating, Winchester, $692,736; and Yardberry Landscaping Excavating, Anderson, $916,465.

In other business Thursday, the board approved a new volunteer firefighter for the Portland Fire Department.

Chad Smith, 32, 213 W. Glassford Ave., Portland, was hired to take the place of Chad Aker, who recently was hired as a full-time firefighter.

Smith has passed the written exam and physical agility test needed to be a firefighter, said Mike Thomas, Portland fire chief.

He is a Jay County native, who was a volunteer for the department 10 years ago, Thomas said this morning. Volunteers are paid on a per-run basis. They are paid $10.28 per hour for the first hour. After that, the pay is split up into 15 minute increments which amounts to about $2.57 per 15 minutes, he said.

“He’s a very good candidate,” Thomas said before the board voted.

Also Thursday, the board:

•Signed a contract with Bonar Group for engineering services for the Boundary Pike/Wayne Street Project at a cost of $601,027.

This document also outlines the scope of the project. The contract has to be turned in to the Indiana Department of Transportation in order to receive funding. INDOT has awarded the city $3,680,000 to help fund the project.

The Boundary Pike/Wayne Street project will include the separation of storm and sanitary sewer lines, sidewalks and streetlights.

For more on this project, see related story.

•Voted to purchase a 2006 Kubota small utility vehicle for the wastewater treatment plant at a cost of $9,900. The vehicle will be used to haul tools and drive to remote lift stations. It will be purchased from Affolder’s in Berne.

Brelsford said this morning, the department’s current vehicle is 10 years old.

Reynolds Farm Equipment of Muncie and Harvest Depot of Berne also submitted quotes for similar vehicles at costs of $10,128 and $10,980 respectively. The quote for the Kubota was selected because it was the lowest and Brelsford said it had more features than the other vehicles and it could carry heavier loads.

The old vehicle will be given to the street department to use when painting curbs, Brelsford said. Such vehicles typically have very little trade-in value, he said.

•Voted to renew a one-year contract with Kunkle Properties of Portland for city hall employees to use a portion of the gravel parking lot located directly behind the building.

The cost for the front of the lot, which has room for 12 vehicles, will be $3,000 annually. This amount will be split into two payments of $1,500.

Board member Bob McCreery asked Hosier if the city has ever considered buying the lot, which also is the location of the New Body Fitness Center.

Hosier said the idea has been brought up and is being pursued.

•Voted to adjust sewer bills for a Portland woman and a Portland business.

Linda Auker, 603 E. Votaw St., requested the adjustment because she had a water leak. She had the problem fixed.

Jed Williamson of Dairy Queen, 1403 N. Meridian St., also requested an adjustment because of a leak.

The adjustment will be made following the city’s policy, which is to reduce the sewer bill down to a three-month average for sewage bills prior to the leak.

Williamson also asked the board to consider adjusting the water portion of his bill. He said the leak was due to a coupler breaking close to the edge of Meridian Street. Williamson said he suspects a faulty coupler was installed when the street was widened several years ago.

Board members decided to discuss the matter with city attorney Bill Hinkle before voting.[[In-content Ad]]After a series of delays, officials hope a major street reconstruction project on Portland’s southeast side will move forward this year.

Construction on the Boundary Pike/Wayne Street project could begin this summer.

The project will include the separation of storm and sanitary sewers, replacement of water mains, construction of new sidewalks, gutters and driveway approaches, and installation of street lights.

One major hurdle — the acquisition of property needed for the project — is about to be cleared.

Bruce Hosier, mayor of Portland, said when he took office in January of 2004, there was a list of 50 properties for which the city needed to acquire temporary or permanent rights-of-way before the work could begin. “We’re now down to about five,” he said following Thursday’s board of works meeting. “It’s a very tedious ... process.”

One of the property owners the city is still in negotiations with will probably take longer than the others, Hosier said.

There is a large gap between the amount of money the property owner wants for the land and the price the city is willing to pay, he said. An appraisal on the land is expected to be in the hands of city officials within a week, Hosier told board of works members during the meeting.

Once the appraisal is complete, Hosier plans to sit down with the property owner and try to come up with a price which makes both he and the land owner happy.

After all of the rights-of-way are acquired, it will take about 120 days to complete the required paperwork and get the necessary permits. Once these tasks have been completed, construction can begin, Hosier said.

“Our goal is to start construction by the middle of the summer,” he said.

If construction starts this summer, it would probably not be completed until about November of 2007, Greg Smith, Bonar Group vice president, said this morning. Bonar is doing the engineering work on the project.

A $3,680,000 grant was awarded to the city to help fund the project in late 1998. The funds from the Indiana Department of Transportation are expected to cover 80 percent of the cost. The city will be responsible for the remaining 20 percent. The funding from INDOT is made up of federal gasoline taxes.

The board of works has not yet asked for bids to be submitted for construction.