Boe Drive project on the move

Pine Haven’s council heard Heath Turbiville of HDR Engineering at Tuesday morning’s workshop as he explained the town’s current position on the Boe Drive Project. This project involves the installation of hydrants and a waterline along the roadway.

HDR recently received comments from the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) regarding the agency’s review of the design previously provided by the engineering firm, of which there were “very few and very simple”. HDR responded with a council approved answer by the end of last week.

The engineer assured the governing body that “in a couple of weeks, we’ll have the permit to construct” allowing for the next step – bidding the job. “At your [next council] meeting,” Turbiville suggested, “you could approve us going out to bid on that.”

He explained that the town will then advertise a minimum or two weeks as per statute, “I prefer to go three weeks or a month just to give contractors more of a chance to look at it.”

Before they actually put the request for bids out, though, Turbiville advised the council to consider pre-bid meeting dates and bid opening dates.

He also suggested, “We make sure that we can give them a fairly decent amount of time to get it fitted in a schedule, not necessarily the amount of time for the construction, but time to fit it into their schedule. When we’ve had projects that have been on a tight schedule, that we’re trying to rush, we’re not seeing very many bidders and prices are higher…Being able to let them fit it into their schedule makes it more competitive.”

Mayor Karla Brandenburg advocated this idea, “Whatever we can do to get the best price. We have a match on this – we’ll just have to put that in the budget next year, as well then.”

Turbiville pointed to a possible project completion date in the fall of 2024 with a window of 45 days from start to finish, “So that would mean, if they wanted to, they could wait to start the first of September or if they have the crew and can get the materials ready, they could start the first of April – however it fits their schedule.” Mitigating the time the project is open ensures timely completion.

Boe Drive will not be entirely closed during construction, Turbiville assured council, “There will be some disruptions, but all of the water line is off the side of the road so they will probably be able to have it so somebody can get by.”