By DAVE SCHULTZ
The city’s efforts to provide sanitary sewer service to the Timber Ridge area got off to a good start Tuesday as the first phases of the project came in under the engineer’s estimate.
The bids were opened during the late afternoon meeting of the Bluffton Board of Public Works and Safety. The first item of business at the meeting of the Bluffton Common Council Tuesday evening was a report from DLZ, the engineering company planning and overseeing the sewer project. The company had compared the bids in the interim and said that the proposal by VTF Excavating of Celina, Ohio, was the most responsive and responsible bid — although it would examine the proposal in the coming days.
VTF has done several projects in Wells County recently. The company installed new water mains as part of Bluffton’s water system improvements last year and is currently working on the Wells County Regional Sewer District’s sanitary sewer collection systems in Liberty Center and Murray.
VTF’s total bid on the first two of four phases for the sewer work was just more than $4 million, well under the engineer’s estimate of $5.2 million.
The first round of bids included sewer mains in the Timber Ridge area and the Dustman Road interceptor sewer. VTF, API Construction Corp. of LaOtto, and Fox Contractors of Fort Wayne were the only companies to submit bids Tuesday. API’s total bid came in at $4,324,954 and Fox’s was $4,354,345.
What will follow later this year is bids on improvements to the city’s wastewater plant and wastewater collection system. Casey Erwin of DLZ said the work associated with those improvements is expected to be in the $25 million.
The city will benefit from loans provided to it by the State Revolving Fund. The members of the Bluffton Common Council — Rick Elwell, Scott Mentzer, Janella Stronczek, Josh Hunt, and Roger Thornton — all voted to accept the VTF bid on the condition the SRF approves it.
Eric Walsh, the city’s financial consultant from the Baker Tilly municipal finance company, briefly discussed the need for higher sewer rates for city customers. He expects the need for an increase that will double the current rate of $27.16 for an average residential customer to $55.35 by the end of the year. The rate will not go up all at once, however, and will be phased in.
Information for an ordinance to that end will be sent to City Attorney Tony Crowell by the first of next week, Walsh said, and the new rate ordinance could be introduced Feb. 15 and a public hearing could be held in early March.
daves@news-banner.com
