Due to an error in a base bid, city staff are recommending that the City Commission reject bids and rebid for a contract to replace and reroute the water main around the Great Falls Police Department.

Four bids were received for the project and ranged from $138074.50 to $171,333.

Geranios Enterprises submitted the low bid, but had an error in their base bid amount, according to city staff. Geranios was notified of the error and opted to pull their bid from consideration, according to staff.

City staff from police, public works utilities and engineering divisions agreed to allow Geranios to pull their bid and since the second lowest bid is about $14,000 over budget, staff is recommending that the city rebid the project.

The project is to replace and reroute the water main along the north side of the police department and the east side of Energy West. It will also replace the police department’s water service.

City engineering staff, with utility staff, designed the project and it’s being completed in cooperation with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, according to staff.

The police department’s water service has been failing with increasing regularity, according to staff, and is currently tapped into the water main in Park Drive. Breaks on that service line are due primarily to corrosive soils, age and type of pipe material used, according to staff. The new service will be tapped off the new water main, which will replace existing ductile iron water main installed in 1983, according to the staff report.

The new main will be installed in the roadway and out of Energy West’s parking lot area.

This project will replace about 480 lineal feet of 8-inch ductile iron water main with 8-inch PVC water main; replace one fire hydrant; two water service connections; 170 lineal feet of 2-inch copper; 500 square yards of gravel; and 450 square yards of asphalt pavement, according to the staff report.

The project is being funded by the police department, water capital improvement fund and the street department maintenance fund.