Friday, March 30, 2007

Fourth Street bids received

City Council to award construction contract Monday

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By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer

The city of Ketchum is considering two bids received Wednesday for construction of the Fourth Street Heritage Corridor. Left to right, City Engineer Steven Yearsly, City Clerk Sandy Cady and City Administrator Ron LeBlanc take a look at the bids. Photo by David N. Seelig

The city of Ketchum accepted bids Wednesday from two local contractors hoping to work on the Fourth Street Heritage Corridor, which will link Spruce Street with Second Avenue in downtown Ketchum.

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Two bids were received for the first, three-block construction phase, which will span from Spruce to Leadville Avenue with construction anticipated to wrap up before the July 4 holiday weekend. The bid from Burks Excavation totaled $836,606.95 and a bid from S Erwin Excavation totaled $746,851.64.

City Engineer Steven Yearsly said bids are always awarded to the lowest bidder so long as the bid checks out.

"We'll go through and recalculate the bids and make sure the numbers are correct," Yearsly said. Part of that analysis will include checking contractor backgrounds and comparing numbers in the bids received.

"If we see issues, we give the contractor the ability to back out," Yearsly said.

Both bids actually came in somewhat lower than city officials estimated, said City Administrator Ron LeBlanc. They were anticipated to come in as high as $1 million.

The bids do not include the cost of pavers, which the city has ordered at a cost of about $85,000, 22 streetlights that will run $85,000 or 11 street trees that are under $1,000 each.

A groundbreaking ceremony is planned for Tuesday, April 3, at 10 a.m., with work beginning April 9.

The Ketchum City Council should award a contract to one of the bidders on Monday, April 2, at a meeting beginning at 5:30 p.m. at Ketchum City Hall.