LISBON — Columbiana County commissioners on Wednesday rejected the only bid submitted for the Hanoverton sanitary sewer project last week because it was more than 10% higher than the engineer’s estimate.
“We regroup” Troy Graft, assistant chief sanitary engineer for Columbiana County, said.
United Earthworks LLC of Deerfield offered $7,127,875 to complete the project to bring sanitary sewer service to the village of Hanoverton, but that amount was nearly $2 million more than the engineer’s estimate for $5,132,010.
Graft said he spoke with the prosecutor’s office and was told the project had to be rebid because the bid exceeded the estimate by more than 10%. He said those are Ohio rules. In this case, he said the offer exceeded the estimate by 39%.
The plan now is to split the project into two contracts. Graft said a contract will focus on expanding the sewage treatment plant in Kensington to install additional tanks to handle the extra flow that will come from Hanoverton. The other contract will be for the Hanoverton Collection System and Pump Station, which includes 25,000 feet of sewer lines and the pump station which will be located along U.S. Route 30 past Dollar General to pump the flow to the factory.
Graft said they’ve spoken to some of the funding sources they’re using for the project and they said they’ve seen deals like this everywhere that exceed the engineer’s estimate.
He hopes to return to the commissioners next week to request that the project be re-announced and re-bid. He said the funding sources agreed to the project being split into two separate contracts. The hope is to open bidding in early November and begin construction in early January, depending on contractor availability.
“I think it will allow us to get a better price”, says Registry.
He said they will have to adjust their prices in the engineer’s estimate. Once the project is awarded, construction is expected to take a year.
Several sources of funding are lined up to cover the costs, with $4 million from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, a $950,000 grant from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a $500 grant $250,000 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission, and a planning loan. to pay the Ohio Water Development Authority $120,000 engineering.
In other cases, commissioners paid $750,000 from American Rescue Plan Act funds for the Elkton Wastewater Treatment Plant pump and equipment replacement project. Graft said equipment replacement is needed after years of use.
