With nine contractors submitting bids for the $6.4 million Combined Sewer Overflow project, town officials called the bidding “very competitive”.
Dave O’Mara Contractors of North Vernon was the lowest bidder for the project. The Crothersville Town Council at last week’s monthly council meeting awarded the bid to the Jennings County firm for $4,841,473. Bids were opened earlier in the afternoon.
“It is good for the town to reach this point in the long, long process,” said Brad Bender of FPBH, the town’s engineering firm. “And extra good for town sewer ratepayers that the low bid came in under our engineering estimate.”
FPBH estimated the project to cost $5,500,964.
Other bidders were Lykins Contracting of Sunman, $5,339,115; Mac Construction of New Albany, $5,6646,000; King’s Trucking of Seymour, $5,748,000; Atlas Excavating of West Lafayette, $5,815,000; Dan Cristiana Excavating of Clarksville, $5,897,800; Thieneman Construction of Westfield, $6,499,000; Mitchell & Stark of Medora, $6,532,500; and Infrastructure Systems or Orleans, $6,816,844.
Bender said that the loan closing on the project is expected to be in mid-December with a notice to the contractor to proceed exected after the first of the year.
For over 15 years sewer utility customers of the town of Crothersville have heard, read and offered their input about the state mandated Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) designation.
Crothersville was one of 106 communities that had sanitary sewer and surface storm water being sent to the wastewater plant for treatment. During times of heavy rain, too much water flowed to the plant to be treated. Some combined sewer and storm water bypassed the plant leaving raw sewage to flow towards the Muscatatuck River west of town.
The state Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) mandated that the town fix that problem. For nearly two decades the town negotiated with IDEM on a workable, practical solution.
Earlier this year the town council found out the cost of eliminating the town’s CSO designation: renovations that could cost over $6.4 million.
Earlier this summer the council also learned the town was approved for an OCRA (Office of Community and Rural Affairs) grant of $700,000 to use toward the project.
It was earlier projected that Crothersville sewer customers can expect a nearly $50 monthly sewer rate increase because of the state required project. However, with the awarded bid below the engineer’s estimate, that monthly increase is expected to be adjusted downward.
