Sewer Line Project Awarded to RMS Utilities, Base Bid Totalling $1,498,313

As part of an ongoing effort by Town of Lake City to improve infrastructure and leading up to an eventual street-paving project, a sewer line replacement project will be commencing sometime in the near future.
Bids were solicited to secure a contractor, and the project has been awarded to RMS Utilities, Inc., from Alamosa, although as of the date of this publication, not yet accepted, the base bid totalling $1,498,313.00.
The project was discussed at the March 20 Town of Lake City meeting workshop during which Town Engineer Joanne Fagan gave details regarding specific areas where the work will take place.
Present at the meeting were Mayor Bruce Vierheller and Trustees Alan Rae, Marty Priest, Dave Roberts, Richard Moore and Jeff Heaton, along with Town Manager Caroline Mitchell and Town Clerk Jamie Turrentine.
Fagan told the group, “We received four bids for the upcoming sewer project, all of them are more than we have money for. I looked at ways to bring us back into budget. We have $800,000 and change from a Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) grant, and the loan we closed on yesterday is for $900,000 with a match requirement of 50/50. I’m trying to keep the project at $1.6 million in order to have some money for contingencies and engineering, it brings us down into the $1.3 range.”
Fagan explained there will be two “legs” of the project. “Leg One” will work north on Henson Street and Highway 149 to Ninth Street, then back on Silver Street.
“We were going to go all the way to [Eighth Street, near the Post Office], but that last 50 feet would be expensive and it’s not in real bad shape, so I chopped that section out,” she said.
The second “leg,” said Fagan, “comes down from the same manhole at Henson Street and the Highway and comes in front of the Medical Center, goes to Seventh Street, turns and goes across Gunnison Avenue to Silver Street and comes down all the way to Second Street, and includes in front of the Armory because at the time we were designing this, we thought we might have a lead on paving, and we need to get the sewer done before we can pave.”
Fagan explained that she should be able to whittle the budget down to roughly $1.3 million. “If we do all of Silver Street, I can go to Gunnison Avenue and somewhere between Eighth Street and Ninth Street. If we do all of the northwest leg, I can get to Fourth Street and Silver Street. If you want to go through with the project,” Fagan concluded, “I’ll need to know” how much the town wishes to do.
Fagan explained that she wrote into the bid request that the town reserved the right to adjust the quantities of the bid, depending on what the Trustees decide. She recommends giving RMS Utilities, Inc., a notice of award for what the town feels comfortable proceeding with. Should they choose not to accept the notice of award, further discussion will ensue at the next regular meeting.
Public Works Director Greg Levine stated he recommends focusing on the “northwest leg” of the project where the sewer line is more complicated and thus more important due to sanitary safety issues.