Bid approved for city water plant project
Walters-Morgan Construction, Inc. of Manhattan was the low bidder for the City of Marion's water treatment facility project.
Engineers Todd Anderson and Chad Lawson of Bucher, Willis, and Ratliff, revealed four bids Monday during Marion City Council meeting.
The low bid with two alternates was $1,755,900, more than $440,000 less than the engineer's estimate.
Other bids were from Smoky Hill, LLC of Salina; BRB Contractors, Inc. of Topeka; and Utility Contractors, Inc. of Wichita. Those bids ranged from $1,792,000 to $1,817,000.
Improvements will include the installation of an ozone treatment facility and other amenities which will make the city's water compliant with the state's standards.
Walters-Morgan Construction, Inc. was the contractor for the city's last water plant upgrade and was familiar with the plant, said Lawson.
Construction is planned to begin by mid- to late-August.
Councilman Bill Holdeman asked why the bids weren't opened during a regular council meeting. City administrator David Mayfield said the bids needed to be received and opened before July 1, per USDA Rural Development's guidelines. Rural Development is providing grant and loan funds for the project.
Mayor Martin Tice said he attended the bid opening. The bid opening was open to the public and announced at the previous council meeting.
Holdeman asked the engineers if they worked on similar projects for similar-size towns. Anderson said they currently were working on projects at Herington and Pomona.
Holdeman then asked what the engineer's fees were. Mayfield responded approximately $200,000.
Councilman Jerry Kline asked if inspectors would be on-site.
Anderson said there would be some on-site but city personnel also could do some inspections which would save the city money.
Completion is anticipated by July 1, 2007.
