Water tower bid much higher than expected; Board to hold a Special Meeting tonight
By Donald McBrayer
In December Pittsburg Tank and Tower (PTT) proposed expenses of $229,000 for repairs and upgrades to the town’s water tower. Repairs and upgrades include new handrails, grating, exterior and interior coating and installation of a chlorine mixing system. Painting was not included. PTT originally manufactured and installed the water tank in 1976 and performs routine tank maintenance.
When the project recently went to bid PTT’s bid of $416,000 was the only bid received. It was $187,000 over the original proposal. According to the Town Board, this difference is due to the inclusion of painting and the failure on PTT’s part to consider prevailing wages in the original proposal. The Board is considering three options: 1) Accept the bid. 2) Reject the bid, and start over. 3) Separate the painting portion of the project and putting it out as a separate bid.
W/S Superintendent Greg Timmons is hoping to begin work on the tower by April 1st to be completed by late May or early June. According to Timmons, the tower work must be finished before the reservoir can be cleaned in August. He is concerned that putting it back out to bid might delay the project beyond the summer.
The entire water system upgrade project will be paid for by a bond in the $3.2 to $3.3 million range. A Special Town Board Meeting is being held tonight (March 15) at 7PM to further discuss the options.
Posted: March 15th, 2012 under Town Board News.