Bids opened

This time, bids came in.

They were about 50% higher than estimated last year.

Both offers came in at more than $13.5 million as Portland Board of Works on Thursday opened bids for a portion of the city’s work that is required as part of its agreed order Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

James S. Jackson Company of Bluffton had the lower of the bids opened at $13.73 million. Jutte Excavating of Fort Recovery was the other bidder at $14.62 million. 

The board of works took the bids under advisement to allow time to review them.

Thursday marked the second chance of bidding to install a wet weather pump station at Portland’s wastewater treatment plant after there were no bids for the work in December. (At that time, the city received four bids to put in an equalization basin, the other part of this step of the agreed order with IDEM.) As a result, the city was forced to re-bid the wet weather pump station. (Portland City Council also amended its bond related to the project, increasing the amount to $30 million from the previous $23.8 million.)

Jutte was the low bidder for the equalization basin at $4.57 million while the other three bidders were all at $5.2 million or higher.

(Jackson did not bid on that portion of the project.)

The city's agreed order with IDEM, signed in 2008, is intended to eliminate combined sewer overflows (CSOs) in the city by increasing the wastewater plant's capacity. (CSOs occur when the amount of water in the system exceeds its capacity, causing untreated stormwater and wastewater to be discharged into waterways.) In addition to the equalization basin and wet weather pump station, it also calls for the construction of an oxidation ditch.

The new system will allow excess water to be pumped into the equalization basin during times when the city’s facility is overloaded. That water can then be pumped back and treated before being discharged.

Construction of the equalization basin is expected to take 330 days, with the pump station to take 515 days.

The Commercial Review learned after the meeting that Brad Dues has been named as the new superintendent of the city’s wastewater department. He takes over for Brad Clayton. Westlake said he made the change a couple of weeks ago.

Also Thursday, board of works members Steve McIntosh and Mayor Jeff Westlake, absent Jerry Leonhard, approved a change order for the Meridian Street storm sewer project.

The change order was necessary, clerk-treasurer Lori Phillips said, because of a change in the pavement requirements set by Indiana Department of Transportation. The additional cost came to $446,500.

McIntosh and Westlake also approved a final pay request for the project from contractor Watson Excavating of Redkey at $1,168,867.98. (The only funds left to be paid for the project are retainage dollars totaling $366,000.)

Asked after the meeting about the total cost of the project, Phillips said it totaled $3.11 million.

The board of works also OK’d funding for a couple of capital improvement projects.

It voted in favor of security upgrades for city hall after police department investigator Jeff Hopkins explained that there was an incident last year during which someone broke windows in police cars, entered the building and attempted to get into restricted areas. Hopkins asked for funding for security doors with entry keypads in the front and reach of the building as well as bullet-resistant glass for the dispatch area, clerk’s office window and front of the building.

Moeller Door of St. Henry, Ohio, will handle the project for $50,527.20.

Portland Fire Chief Mike Weitzel requested installing insulation on the upper level of the fire station in the area of the council chambers and fire department offices. He explained that the space houses the facility’s heating, cooling and ventilation system and that it would function better if the space is insulated.

The board awarded the work to Fortkamp Foam of Fort Recovery for $5,440.

In other business, the board:

•Approved the following: the purchase of a trash truck from Best Equipment for $247,563.50, minus a $45,000 trade-in, for delivery in 2026 (Portland City Council approved the funding for the purchase at its last meeting); a commercial driver’s license training reimbursement agreement with street and parks department employee Ronnie Reynolds (he will pay back a portion of the cost if he leaves city employment within three years); a sewage tap agreement for 619 S. Vine St.; a leak adjustment of $166.26 for 413 Floral Ave.

•Denied a request from Jay County Fair Board for a leak adjustment for several leaks dating from July through November. Fair board president Aaron Loy said the leaks have been fixed. (He did not request a specific amount for the leak adjustment.) There was discussion about whether the ordinance that allows leak adjustments applies to a facility like the fairgrounds in the same way that it does to residential properties, with McIntosh and Westlake eventually voting to deny the request.