Bids accepted for streets, HVAC system

GENTRY — City council members, on Monday, approved the low bid of $87,932 for proposed street work to be done this spring and summer, mostly in the northwest quadrant of the city.

Four companies bid on the proposed street repair project, with DECCO’s bid being the lowest. The other three bids ranged between $93,714 and $106,514.

The plans included paving North Collins Avenue between Main Street and McKee Street and paving South Smith Street between Main Street and South Third (on the east side of the park).

Also included in plans is additional chip and seal work in the northwest quadrant of the city on streets which were not worked on in 2010. Streets slated for chip and seal include Hastings, Pleasant, Pine (north of W. Benton), Shaffer, part of W. Arkansas, Steele Ct., W. Eureka, W. Grant, a portion of W. Benton (to the west of Pine) and S. Second between S. Collins and S. Rust.

The street plans - according to Ron Homeyer, engineer for the street project - with a 10 percent contingency fund included, were anticipated to cost approximately $133,258, which is within the city’s budget expenditures for the year.

According to Homeyer, the city, because the bids came in lower than anticipated, could do more repair and maintenance work if the council approved it before the company started work.

Since $133,000 was budgeted for the work, the council also approved expending up to that amount to do additional repair work to city streets this year. Where the additional work will be done was not yet determined.

The street improvements are necessary items to maintain the streets the city has, Homeyer said. The currently planned work will stabilize the streets in the northwestcorner of the city, he said.

Homeyer estimated the work could begin within the next few weeks.

Also approved by the council was the lone bid of Magnum Air, Inc., to replace the heating and air conditioning units in the city courtroom/council chamber, including the police station. The bid of $37,930 (excluding taxes) was accepted, and a change order of $836 was also approved to relocate an existing 5-ton condensing unit from the north side of the building to the east side, on the same pad as the other two units.

The city received grant funding for the energy-saving project.