The Gering City Council has approved a bid for the first infrastructure project that will use proceeds from the LB357 half-cent sales tax fund, but the scope of the repairs will be larger than originally proposed.
A low bid from Hennings Construction of $292,760 was accepted for water main replacements on 5th Street between H and I streets, and on H Street between 5th and 7th.
City Administrator Pat Heath explained why staff was also recommending approval of the $113,851 low bid from Hennings for an alternate water main replacement on 6th Street between H and I due to a big leak last fall.
“What’s happening is, when you dig the pipe up, it looks like craters on the moon. What’s happening is it’s blowing these little holes out, and this last main break, we had water actually shooting over the top of someone’s house into their backyard. And so we’re afraid that we’re going to have other issues down the road,” said Health. “And so they felt we ought to bid this as an alternate, and Mike (Public Works Director Mike Davies) has decided to forgo some capital expenditures that were budgeted in the Water Department to complete the alternate while we were there.”
$232,000 of the total repair cost will come from the LB357 fund, and the award of both bids to Hennings will mean a savings to the city of about $15,000 in mobilization costs.
The base bid and alternate were approved unanimously 7-0.