County opens bids for Marion Township sewer project
County commissioners opened bids Wednesday for the Marion Township sewer project and plan to award contracts in January so work can being in early spring.
The project was divided into three parts, and separate bids were opened for the project management contract and for providing grinder pumps.
The bids will be reviewed before contracts are awarded in January and notices to proceed are issued in February.
The goal of the project is to replace an antiquated sewer system that serves some residents with a new system that will serve 111 residential and business customers in the Boyers area of the township.
The three parts of the project are installing sewer collection lines, building the treatment plant and installing electrical service.
Eleven bids were submitted for installing sewer collection lines. The apparent lowest bid of $1.25 million was submitted by Mortimer’s Excavating of Pulaski in Lawrence County. The highest bid was $3.22 million.
The five bids for construction of the treatment plant ranged from $2.22 million to $2.91 million. Bison Construction of Fairmount City in Clarion County was the apparent low bidder.
For the electric service contract, Right Electric of Butler Township submitted the apparent low bid of $265,000. The only other bid was $285,000.
Five engineering firms responded to the county’s request for qualifications to provide engineering and inspection services for the project. The firms are EADS Group of Altoona in Blair County; Cosmos Technologies of Pittsburgh; Herbert, Rowland and Grubic, which has offices in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia; Senate Engineering of Pittsburgh; and Lennon, Smith, Souleret Engineering of Pittsburgh.
Tepco, of Mars, was the only bidder for the contract to provide 87 grinder pumps, pump housings and lateral service lines that will be installed at some homes. Tepco’s bid was $475,196.
The project, which was estimated to cost $4.9 million, is being funded with 2020 Community Development Block Grant funds, a competitive CDBG grant and supplemental CDBG funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act of 2020.
The commissioners addressed several other infrastructure projects that are being funded with CDBG and American Rescue Plan Act money.
Four CDBG-funded projects and a request for qualifications for engineering services for the CDBG program will be advertised. The projects are a stormwater management project at the intersection of routes 8 and 58 in Harrisville, a multiuse field and sand volleyball court at Alameda Park, a restroom project at Laura Doerr Park in Jefferson Township and the McCandless Road reconstruction project in Slippery Rock Township.
From the nearly $37 million in ARPA grants the county received, the commissioners awarded $11.7 million to 30 municipalities and municipal authorities that applied for grants. The combined cost of all the projects in $35.8 million.
Each municipality and authority that received a grant is required to provide a 10% match and execute engineering and construction contracts for the projects by the end of 2023, said solicitor Wil White.
The 10% match was required because municipalities also received ARPA grants, Leslie Osche, chairwoman of the commissioners, said.
Municipalities that don’t use the money within the allotted time frame will have to return it to the county for redistribution, she said.
Commissioner Kevin Boozel said ARPA grants have to be obligated by the end of 2024 and spent by the end of 2026. He said the county received $100 million in requests from municipalities for ARPA money.
Of those applications, $67 million was sought for water and sewer projects, Mark Gordon, the county’s chief of economic development and planning, said.
In addition, the commissioners approved a 15-month extension of the contract with Herbert, Rowland and Grubic for management services for the infrastructure bank program at a cost of $5,000 a month through December 2023.
The commissioners also agreed to apply for a $1.25 million grant for water and sewer service in the Allegheny-Clarion Valley Business Park from the Appalachian Regional Commission.
