By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — The Colfax Village Board has awarded the low bid for the Dunn Street project to Skid Steer Guy LLC out of Mondovi in the amount of $231,411.
The bids were opened March 2 and came in higher than expected, said Gareth Shambeau of Ayres Associates.
The higher bids are likely due to uncertainty in the cost of materials and because materials are more expensive now than when the project was estimated, he said.
The engineer’s total construction estimate for the job was $212,400, according to information included in the village board packet.
According the village’s five-year capital improvement plan for street and utility reconstruction, the estimated cost for Dunn Street was $245,000.
Other bids included A-1 Excavating for $249,578; Haas Sons, Inc., for $252,631; and McCabe Construction, Inc., for $260,500.
Skid Steer Guy did the work last year on Viking Drive and High Street, and Rand Bates [director of public works] believed that the work was good, Shambeau said.
The street project last year ended up with scheduling problems and was not completed until well after the due date.
The scheduling problems were related to the fact that the Viking Addition on the north side of Colfax only has one entrance/exit point instead of a road coming in one side of the subdivision and exiting on the other side.
Since there is not a through road in the subdivision, the contractor stopped work earlier each day to make sure equipment was out of the way so that residents could get in and out of the subdivision overnight and the next morning.
Instead of paying liquidated damages to the Village of Colfax because the project went beyond the due date, Skid Steer Guy LLC paid the additional $15,000 in engineering costs for the village.
The owner of Skid Steer Guy LLC said he did not want to bid on the project if the Village of Colfax was bitter about the scheduling problems last year, Shambeau said.
Shambeau said he told Skid Steer Guy that since the schedule conflicts had been worked out, village officials and village staff were “okay” with the situation.
The due date for the Dunn Street project is July 15, and the contractor can start any time after the ground thaws, Shambeau said.
The project will involve 755 feet of Dunn Street south of Fourth Avenue and will include 755 feet of street to match the existing with no curb, 385 feet of new water main and 755 feet of new sanitary sewer.
Jeff Prince, village trustee, asked if the price differences on the bids could be due to larger companies having more manpower, and then, if a company has more manpower, would the street project be finished sooner?
The differences in the bids could be because of differences in the size of the companies, their overhead and their profit margin, Shambeau said.
After the bid has been awarded, a company is locked into the price. The differences in the bids could be due to the uncertainty in fuel prices, he said.
As long as the quantities come in as expected, then the bid price should hold steady, Shambeau said.
The Colfax Village Board unanimously approved awarding the bid to Skid Steer Guy LLC in the amount of $231,411.
Voting in favor of the motion were Jody Albricht, village president; and village trustees Margaret Burcham, Carey Davis, Anne Jenson, Jeff Prince, Jen Rud and Gary Stene.
