Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By RALPH ANSAMI
Ironwood — The Ironwood City Commission Tuesday awarded the bid for this summer’s sewer-water project to Ruotsala Construction, LLC, of Ironwood, at $3,378,980.
Five bids were received on May 25 from construction contractors for the project. All met the bidding requirements.
Ruotsala bid $3,218,303, but the city commission on Tuesday agreed to a change order of $160,678 to increase the amount of the original bid.
U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development project budgets are broken down into water and sewer categories. Since the water bid portion, funded entirely with loan money, came under budget, the loan will be reduced by more than $200,000.
The next step in the project will be a loan closing that will be followed by a public hearing, where citizens in the project area can have their questions answered.
The boundaries of the project are roughly Lake Street to Luxmore Street, and south of U.S. 2, behind Red’s Auto, to Ayer Street. Work on extending the 16-inch water line to the city’s wellfields in the township is also included.
City manager Scott Erickson said the affected blocks have experienced many water breaks in the past.
The lower than expected bid may also allow water-sewer work on Francis Street, Mike Foley, of Coleman Engineering, Ironwood, told the city commission.
Jake’s Excavating & Landscaping, LLC, of Ironwood, was the second lowest bidder at $3,528,968. Foley said the difference in the top two bids, under 10 percent, is acceptable for an underground construction project.
The total project cost, including engineering and contingencies, is $4,386,336, with funding to come from federal loans to be repaid by water-sewer users and grants. The water portion cost will be $2,701,336, and the sewer cost is pegged at $1,685,000.
It is the fourth stage of the infrastructure project to upgrade the sewer and water distribution systems in the city that were nearly a century old when phase one began.
Foley and Jeff Sjoquist, also of Coleman Engineering, are handling the project details for the city with the Ruotsala company.
The change order will be contingent on Rural Development’s concurrence.
Mayor Annette Burchell and Kim Corcoran had excused absences and all of the votes on the project Tuesday, including awarding if the contract to Ruotsala, were 3-0.
Paul Grbavcich, who resides on Leonard Street, suggested placing the project dirt and fill in the city compost site. He also urged commissioners to make sure the trucks don’t tear up the newly repaved streets in the city.
