OIL CITY, Pa. (EYT) – Oil City Council approved a bid to replace the waterlines along Plummer and Spring Streets at last night’s meeting.
Jason Herman, Oil City’s director of water services, said the bid has been awarded to Terra Works, Inc., for $944,449.00. The waterline break, which occurred last fall, has been deemed an emergency situation.
Work will begin in an estimated two to four weeks and will include total repaving of rough sections of Deer Street and the replacement of all fire hydrants along Plummer Street and two hydrants on Spring Street.
The project’s original estimate came in around $700,000.00. Members of the council, including Councilman Isaiah Dunham, said they were disappointed that the project came in over budget.
“Even though the bid was off because of signage and manpower for the road closure, Arcadis – the engineering firm – should have known about these issues before they made their estimate,” said Dunham.
“The most disappointing thing about this is the engineering company shouldn’t have been missing out on $250,000.00 worth of labor material,” Dunham added. “It’s harder to swallow because we’re not exactly made of money.”
However, Dunham commented that tabling the discussion would inconvenience schools and students for a longer period of time than is already projected.
“This is a project that needs to get done, and the question starts to become ‘If the vote was no or the vote was tabled until a later date, what are we really gaining here?’”
Councilman Ron Gustafson agreed by saying the work is necessary and needs to begin as soon as possible.
“I attended the pre-bid meeting, and I attended the bid opening, and I feel we need to get this rolling,” Gustafson said. “After listening to the discussions–the timing, the lengthiness of the project, how much work is involved, and the need to get it completed before asphalt plants close, and so forth–I know most of the people in Oil City will be very happy to see that road repaired.”
Herman said the project should be completed by late September or October.
Detour signs will be posted along affected areas, under PennDOT specifications. Traffic will be restricted to one lane during construction hours and will reopen to two lanes every evening.
Herman said residents who will experience temporary interruptions in services will be notified via hand-delivered letters before the project is underway.