City accepts bid for construction project
The City Council has decided that Barkley Construction of Wichita will complete this summer's construction project on the intersection of Grand and Washington, as well as another nearby section of street and alley.
At its normal Tuesday afternoon meeting, the council voted unanimously to accept a bid of $123,108.25 from Barkley for the project. Barkley's bid was the lowest the city received for the entire job, which includes construction on the alley behind the city building, construction on the intersection, changes in the ramp leading into the fire station, and construction on a section of Washington that extends from Grand to First Street.
The bid came in much lower than engineers had estimated that the job would cost, said city engineer Bob Previtera. The city had originally estimated the entire package at $187,714; Barkley's bid comes in significantly lower than that.
The highest bid that Hillsboro received was from APAC Construction; they bid $186,222.75.
Construction for the projects will begin in May and should last 90 days. And this summer, the city will be keeping a close eye on the time the project takes — it needs to be completed before the county fair in August, said Mayor Delores Dalke.
"We're not going to be tolerant," Dalke said.
The city will also pay $9,800 to Previtera's firm, Reiss and Goodness Engineers of Wichita, as the standard ten percent engineer's fee.
At Tuesday's meeting, the council also decided to remove comprehensive and collision insurance from seven aging city-owned vehicles. Six of the seven are pickup trucks, and all of them are more than ten years old. The oldest is a 1985 Ford pickup truck.
The reason? If one of the vehicles were to be totaled in a car accident, the city wouldn't receive much money for them, Dalke said.
Insuring these vehicles with liability coverage only will save the city nearly $1,400 over the course of a year, said City Administrator Steve Garrett.
In other city business:
* The council authorized Garrett to purchase two electric trucks from Kansas Power and Light. KP&L had loaned Hillsboro the trucks after the city's were destroyed in last year's electrical shop fire.
KP&L has been letting the city use the trucks for free, and now they're looking to sell them both. Garrett said that he thought they'd sell the trucks for $15,000 each or less.
"They'll make it real easy," Garrett said.
* Hillsboro's annual cleanup week will again be held on the last week of April. This year, it will take place from April 22 to April 26.
