Council and Mayor are asked to consider authorizing and executing a construction contract for Schedule 3 of W.O. 10-01, 2010 Water and Sanitary Sewer Replacement Projects.  After opening bids on all three (3) contract schedules on March 30, Schedules 1 and 2 of W.O. 10-01 were awarded by Council on April 12; however, staff recommended delaying award of Schedule 3 until April 26 while further investigations into the apparent low bidder, Edstrom Construction, were conducted.

Although Edstrom Construction's bid of $2,586,545.00 on Schedule 3 is $130,636.00 lower than the second lowest bid of $2,717,181.00, staff investigations have determined that Edstrom Construction is not sufficiently qualified to perform the work on Schedule 3.  Staff is recommending that Schedule 3 be awarded to the next lowest bidder, COP Construction.  After requesting additional information from Edstrom Construction and thoroughly researching their qualifications, several strong concerns emerged relative to their ability to complete the extremely challenging water and sanitary sewer replacement work in 24th Street West and Broadwater Avenue.  Some of these concerns include:

• Edstrom's work plan proposes production rates 4 times faster than we typically experience for this type of work, and it is proposed to be performed by a single crew for the entire schedule.
• The work plan for the 24th St. W./Broadwater intersection does not conform to project specifications relative to scheduling and coordination of work.
• The work plan does not appear to adhere to requirements associated with testing schedules and time limits on surface restoration.
• Interviews of references with previous experience with Edstrom indicate that Edstrom has underestimated work schedule and the complexity of some project elements on other projects.  Edstrom's reference list does not include work that is comparable to the work that is required in 24th St. W. and Broadwater Ave.

Since 24th Street West is one of the most highly visible and utilized roads in Montana for business and general travel, it is critical that a highly qualified and experienced contractor be selected to perform this work.  Staff does not recommend that the City assume the undue risk of unnecessary negative impacts on local business, the travelling public and City staff and officials that would result from poor contractor performance.  Based on the concerns outlined above, staff believes this risk is significantly high with Edstrom Construction, whereas COP Construction successfully completed similar replacement work in 24th St. W. between Central Ave. and Broadwater Ave. last year.

Schedule 3 includes three work areas.  Zone A includes water main replacement in Upper Mountain View Boulevard.  Zone B includes water and sanitary sewer main replacement in 24th Street West between Broadwater Avenue and Grand Avenue.  Zone C includes water and sanitary sewer main replacement in Broadwater Ave. between 24th St. W. and 28th St. W.  Contract conditions require the bids on all three work zones to be awarded to the same contractor.

The Council may:
•  Award the Schedule 3 construction contract to COP Construction for $2,717,181.00; or
•  Award the Schedule 3 construction contract to Edstrom Construction for $2,586,545.00; or
•  Do not award the contract.

Bids for Schedule 3 of W.O. 10-01 were opened on March 30, 2010 with the following results:

Schedule 3 – Water and Sanitary Sewer Replacement

Zone A (Ductile Iron Pipe Alternative)
Engineer’s Estimate: $395,145.00
Edstrom Construction: $428,932.00
Western Municipal: $294,292.00
COP Construction: $290,295.00

Zone A (HDPE Pipe Alternative)
Engineer’s Estimate: $374,095
Edstrom Construction: $408,359.50
Western Municipal: $274,742.00
COP Construction: $317,765.00

Zone B (Open Cut Alternative)
Engineer’s Estimate: $1,540,780.00
Edstrom Construction: $1,233,103.50
Western Municipal: $1,466,844.00
COP Construction: $1,318,223.00

Zone B (Trenchless Alternative)
Engineer’s Estimate: $1,304,700.00
Edstrom Construction: $1,163,226.50
Western Municipal: $1,375,151.00
COP Construction: $1,244,459.00

Zone C
Engineer’s Estimate: $1,450,390.00
Edstrom Construction: $1,014,959.00
Western Municipal: $1,485,507.00
COP Construction: $1,182,427.00

Low Bidder:  Edstrom Construction
Zone A (HDPE Pipe Alternative) plus Zone B (Trenchless Alternative) plus Zone C:  $2,586,545.00
 
Second Low Bidder:  COP Construction
Zone A (Ductile Iron Pipe Alternative) plus Zone B (Trenchless Alternative) plus Zone C:  $2,717,181.00

Successful bids for Schedules 1, 2 and 3 of W.O. 10-01 total approximately $1,799,213.40 for sanitary sewer replacement and $3,021,179.10 for water replacement.  A State Revolving Fund (SRF) loan will be used to pay for all of the water work. City sanitary sewer funds will pay for the sanitary sewer work.

Staff recommends that Council award a construction contract for Schedule 3 of W.O. 10-01, 2010 Water and Sanitary Sewer Replacement Projects to COP Construction in the amount of $2,717,181.