Council considers bids for Powder River Water Project

HDR Engineering’s Heath Turbiville reported to the Moorcroft governing body on the bids received for the upcoming Powder River Water Project, which is the last large infrastructure project for which the town must pay in the immediate future.

The town had advertised for bids but, when Turbiville looked over the four bids offered, he realized that the lowest bid came in about $15,000 over the available grant and loan funding.

“However, we had a $30,000 [account set aside for change order costs] in the project and so our thought was that, if you awarded the contract to the low bidder and we manage the project closely so that we didn’t use all of [that] account, you would be able to complete the project,” he said.

He also advised that, if needed, the town should be willing to use monies saved from the meter pit project that is currently ear tagged for town parks’ equipment to cover any remaining shortage.

“Worst case scenario, if we run into something that drives the cost up further than that, since it is a phased project, we can cut back a little bit to fit within what you have for funding right now and adjust when we apply for funding for the next phase,” he said.

After considering this issue, the council accepted the recommendation and approved Hot Iron Inc as contractor for the Powder River Water Main Replacement Phase 1 Project for $784,669.49. This project is to start in the spring of 2020.