Waterline bids come in under budget, city says

Low bids opened May 8 totaled about two-thirds of the budget for the last 9 miles of the 24-inch ductile iron line that will distribute finished water from the new treatment plant the city is building off Amity Road.

"We had budgeted for $24 million, and they came in at $16.5 million," Major Capital Projects Manager Todd Piller told the Hot Springs Board of Directors at its May 30 agenda meeting. "That was a good day."

City Manager Bill Burrough said earlier this spring that getting good bids was "imperative," especially in light of cost overruns that put the Lake Ouachita water supply project more than $40 million over budget. Bids the city opened last summer for construction of the new treatment plant exceeded estimates by $12 million, which increased to $17 million after change orders were added to TOLM Group's $34.95 million bid.

The city board adopted a new base rate structure to cover the overrun in November. The rate increases are servicing the $45 million bond issue the board authorized that same month. The base rate table the board adopted in 2017 and put into effect in 2018 is servicing the $106.6 million bond issue the board authorized for the supply project in 2020.

According to bid information, nine companies bid on the four transmission line contracts. Resolutions awarding the bids are on the agenda of the board's Tuesday night business meeting.

Diamond Construction Co. of North Little Rock was the low bidder on three of the contracts. It bid $3.22 million on the 1.75-mile segment from north of the Carpenter Dam Road bridge to the intersection of Shady Grove Road and Brodrick Street. From there the line will connect to the 20-inch diameter transmission main that runs along the King Expressway and feeds the elevated storage tank behind Cornerstone Market Place.

Diamond also had the low bid, $5.43 million, on the 3.7-mile segment that will end south of the bridge and the 3.6 miles, $6.48 million, that will start near the intersection of highways 7 south and 290.

Kajacs Contractors of Little Rock had the low bid, $1.42 million, on the 1,000-foot segment that will cross upper Lake Catherine. The city said the Arkansas Department of Transportation has permitted it to hang the line underneath the deck of the Carpenter Dam Road bridge.

According to reports the city provided, more than $126 million had been spent or encumbered through April in the three bond funds that support the supply project. Subtracting the cost of the four contracts, along with the $671,743 contract the board will consider for the main control panel at the new plant, would leave a more than $13 million unencumbered balance in the $45 million of bond proceeds the city received in January.

More than $14 million had been committed from the 2023 bond fund through April, including a $7.95 million general fund reimbursement. The general fund money was used to certify to TOLM Group that the city had the money to build the new treatment plant. The city called the loan a placeholder that would be repaid after the 2023 bond funds were deposited into the project's construction account.

No bids were solicited for the main control panel at the plant and the system integration contract. The resolution awarding the $671,743 contract cited the state's procurement of professional services statute. It prohibits local governments from letting bids for a range of services, including engineering work.

Brown Engineers, the firm the city recommended awarding the contract to, submitted a statement of qualifications instead of a bid. The Little Rock company provides electrical engineering services for the city's water and wastewater systems.

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