Bids are in for Mount Olive's new sewer plant
By Turner Walston
Published in News on March 31, 2006 1:48 PM
MOUNT OLIVE -- A Myrtle Beach contractor appears to be the low bidder to build a waste water treatment plant in Mount Olive, but there is no decision yet on who will build the plant, town officials announced Thursday.
With a $10 million base bid, Seaside Utilities Inc. of Myrtle Beach is the apparent low bidder.
When bids came in high the first time, Town Manager Ray McDonald said town officials met with state representatives to generate alternatives to cut costs. Bidding was then reopened on the project. The alternatives would still allow the plant to handle up to 2 million gallons of wastewater per day, as per the original plan.
With alternatives included, the bid submitted by Seaside Utilities appeared to be slightly more than $9 million, officials said.
Joe McGougan, a consulting engineer with Hobbs, Upchurch and Associates, unsealed four bids just after 2 p.m. Thursday. The other bidders were T.A. Loving Co. of Goldsboro, Choate Construction Co. of Atlanta and Turner Murphy Co. of Rock Hill, S.C.
McDonald said he hoped the contract could be awarded soon.
"I'm real pleased with the bids," he said. "I feel real good that we might be able to go to contract now."
Assistant Town Manager Charles Brown said the alternatives were like choosing between three brands of cars.
"They'll all get you where you want to go, but it depends on what style you want to get there in," he said.
McGougan will certify the bids and present a recommendation to the town board at its next monthly meeting, McDonald said.
EMSCO of Black Creek was the only subcontractor listed on the bid application submitted by Seaside Utilities.