By Jason Stuart
Ranger-Review Staff Writer
The bids are in for completing the connection of the West Glendive sewer system to the city’s new wastewater treatment plant, and much to the county commissioners’ relief, the bids for the project came in under the engineers’ estimates.
Three companies submitted bids for the project, which will bore a sewer force main under the Yellowstone River to connect the West Glendive system with the city sewer system (another had initially submitted a bid, but withdrew). The lowest bid, from COP Construction, came in at $2.52 million, while the highest of the three bids was $2.73 million.
The engineers’ estimate for the project was $2.81 million. As that estimate has been hanging out there for some three years or so now it had caused the commissioners concern for what the construction costs might actually be, especially given that the wastewater plant itself ended up costing several million dollars more than originally estimated. With the bids now in hand and under the estimate, the commissioners breathed a collective sigh of relief.
“It was very encouraging,” Commissioner Dennis Zander said of the bid numbers.
“It’s a relief, I’ll classify it as that,” said Commissioner Gary Kartevold.
With the slight savings on the project, Zander and Kartevold said it may allow the county to make a few more upgrades to the West Glendive sewer system, like making repairs and upgrades to existing lift stations to make them operate better and more efficiently.
One thing that didn’t quite work out the way the commissioners — or city officials — had hoped is that it appears unlikely that the two governments will be able to hire a single contractor to perform all the work which will be associated with installing the county sewer connection.
The city, for their part, will be replacing their existing sewer and water lines along the section of North Meade Avenue which will have to be dug up for the installation of the county sewer main. The two governments attempted to coordinate their planning for their separate but related projects to try and get a single contractor hired for both so as to make the project run more smoothly.
However, COP Construction was the only bidder for the county who also bid the city project. Unfortunately, however, COP’s bid to the city was the second highest of the four bids the city received earlier this week for their project. The city’s lowest bidder, Western Municipal Construction, was the one contractor who withdrew their bid for the county project.
Local governments aren’t necessarily required to accept the lowest bidder, depending on whether or not their bid proposal checks out equally against the other bids, but the way the bids shook out means it’s unlikely the city and county will be able to hire a single contractor for both projects.
Though not ideal, the commissioners said it’s not the end of the world.
“They’ll have to work out the timing issues,” Zander said of having two separate contractors for the county and city sides of the project. “The project was designed to be staged anyway.”
While the county’s bids for making their sewer connection were a welcome surprise, the city was far less pleased with the four bids it received for its portion of work.
As noted, the lowest bidder for the city project was Western Municipal Construction out of Billings, with a bid of $792,677. The high bid came in at $986,138. None of the bids were what the city had hoped for.
“I was a little bit disappointed,” said Glendive Public Works Director Jack Rice. “I thought they were a little high — all of the bids — but we’ll see what the engineers have to say.”
While happy with their bids for the project, the commissioners couldn’t help but fire a final shot of bitterness towards the federal and state agencies which are requiring the abandonment of the existing West Glendive sewage lagoons and the connection to the wastewater plant in the first place. The county was essentially forced into the project because the Montana Department of Environmental Quality — acting on newer Environmental Protection Agency regulations — would no longer issue permits for the operation of the sewage lagoons, forcing the county to seek a replacement.
Kartevold grumbled about having to replace “a perfectly good lagoon,” while Zander compared it to what’s happening with the state’s coal industry.
“County and local governments are feeling the same wrath of the EPA that the coal industry is being faced with lately,” Zander said. “They regulate but they don’t offer solutions.”
That being said, Zander added that at least by making the connection to the wastewater plant the county and West Glendive residents will be out from under the threat of EPA or DEQ litigation or penalties, something many other communities across Montana with aging sewage systems still live with every day.
“It puts us in a really good position, because there’s a lot of communities now that are on the edge of being fined,” Zander said. “It’s a big bite to take, but it’s going to save us in the future.”
Work on the county sewer connection will begin sometime this spring. The contract calls for 140 days of construction time. Initial work could begin anytime this spring, but the bore across the river cannot begin until after July 1 (due to the spring runoff), per DEQ regulations.
“It should be done this year,” Kartevold said.
Reach Jason Stuart at rrreporter@rangerreview.com.