JEFFERSON — Bids for the construction of the Austinburg Township sanitary sewer improvements have been laid on the table for review.
The project, mandated by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, will replace failing septic systems in the area of routes 307 and 45 with a gravity-feed system. The estimated cost of the project was set at $2.3 million last summer by CT Consultants.
Larry Meaney, director of the county’s Department of Environmental Services, said he was happy to see the lowest of the four bids received to come in at just under the estimated project cost. The low bid was from Mr. Excavator of Kirtland and is for $2,292,311.74.
“We’re right on the button,” he said.
C.I.R., Inc., a Geneva firm, had the second-lowest bid at $2,384,533. Fabrizi Trucking & Paving Co., a Valley City company, bid $2,747,655.25, and DiGioia-Suburban Excavating of North Royalton, bid $3,58,333.50.
Bids were received Wednesday.
Meaney anticipated bids from about a half-dozen firms. “There were more takers than bidders,” Meaney said, referring to the dozen firms that requested bid packets.
He suspects that projects funded by federal stimulus money, which is paying for a portion of the Austinburg work, are starting to fill contractor’s schedules for 2010, and thus reduced the number of bidders.
CT Consultants will examine each bid line by line to make sure the contractors did not overlook any aspect of the project. Meaney was encouraged by a cursory review of the bids because the contractors had taken note of the dewatering requirements of the project. A high water table in this portion of the township makes for difficult work that could affect the final cost.
“It’s tricky soil out there,” he said.
Once CT completes its review, commissioners can conditionally award the project. The next step is to go before the Ohio Water Development Authority for loan fund approval either Jan. 14 or 28, 2010.
“We’re going to get ourselves in on one of these meetings so we can have our project completely funded,” Meaney said.
Once that is done, the final award will be made to the contractor and a pre-construction meeting set.
Meaney said the project must be “substantially complete” by December 2010 to comply with the requirements of the EPA and funding sources.
The fact at least one of the bids was slightly under the project’s estimated cost should be encouraging to commissioners and affected residents, who will be assessed $43 per foot of frontage to pay for their share of the work. Commissioners will be on the hook for any costs above the assessment amount.
“It’s hats off to Shawn Aiken (water resources department manager for CT),” Meaney said. “It’s really hard to sit here and project out two, three years. It’s like hitting a dart board being moved from room to room.”
Local News
Austinburg sanitary sewer funding under review
- Local News
-
-
Conneaut’s development headquarters takes shape
A small building two blocks from Lake Erie could become Conneaut’s economic development headquarters before the start of summer.
-
Sheriff’s detectives net two active meth labs
Acting on a tip, Ashtabula County Sheriff’s detectives and deputies uncovered an active methamphetamine lab Friday afternoon, according to Lt. Van Robison.
-
Former Ashtabula resident killed in car crash Tuesday
Ashley N. Penwell, 22, formerly of East Fourth St., Ashtabula, was pronounced dead at the scene of a Tuesday car crash on Charleston Pike Road in Chillicothe.
-
Ashtabula County is near top in 2011 bear sightings
Ashtabula County finished second in the number of black bear sightings reported in Ohio last year, according to a report from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Wildlife.
-
Break-in results in felony charges
A Conneaut man faces two felony charges stemming from a break-in at a vacant Cleveland Court house earlier this week, according to Conneaut Municipal Court records.
-
Conneaut Middle School’s Goodwill drive big success
Students and staff at Conneaut Middle School responded in a big way to a plea for donations issued late last month by Goodwill Industries of Ashtabula.
-
ACMC teams up with Goodwill on Valentine’s Day
This Valentine’s Day, area residents are encouraged to show their love by cleaning out their closets and heading over to Ashtabula County Medical Center.
-
Presses stopped: Updated with video
It was June 23, 1969.
-
Murder suspect kills self at mother’s grave
Madison Township police officers found the body of a murder suspect in the Alexander Harper Cemetery on Thursday afternoon, ending a day-long, multi-county manhunt.
-
Commissioners pay to get the business
Commissioners on Tuesday approved a $15,000 contract with Growth Partnership for Ashtabula County to provide business service representation on behalf of the county’s One-Stop job training center.
- More Local News Headlines
-
