The Ellis County Press: Bid for hookup to Dallas water ok’d

Bid for hookup to Dallas water ok’d
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Editor on 12/14/2006 00:00:00


SHERRY LONG
_News Editor_
RED OAK - Council members approved a $3.6 million contract for the first phase
of a 36-inch water line connecting Red Oak to the Dallas 60-inch water line at
Danieldale Road during Monday night's meeting.
Stretching three miles from Danieldale Road to Beltline Road in Lanc-aster, the
first phase of construction was scheduled to begin February 2007.
Gregory Nelson, an engineer with Black and Veatch Corporation, said
Mansfield-based S. J. Louis Construction of Texas submitted the lowest bid for
the project.
'We believe that the bids were competitive and that S.J. Louis Construction of
Texas is qualified and capable to construct the project for Red Oak,' Nelson
wrote in a letter to City Manager Ken Pfeifer.
S. J. Louis Construc-tion's bid of $3,605,045.45 beat out two other bidders
including Oscar Renda Contracting and Mario Sinacola & Sons Excavating.
'This first section is well under our budget,' Pfeifer said.
The city had budgeted $10.5 million for the entire project when it was presented
to voters during the November 2005 bond election.
Renda Contracting's bid was $684,530 higher than Louis' bid and Sinacola & Sons
bid was $759,990 higher than the winning bid.
Even the engineer's estimates were $491,492 higher than the actual cost quoted
by the winning bidder.
Red Oak Mayor Pro-Tem Ben Goodwyn said the city's water capacity would jump from
2 million gallons a day to 23 million gallons a day.
'The economics are much better. We can get water for Red Oak at a very good
price and sell water to other cities,' he said.
Louis Construction has experience in working with installing large water lines
for several cities.
In 2002 and 2003 the company installed a 48-inch water line for the City of
Irving and recently completed a 30-inch line for the City of Ovilla hooking it
up to the Dallas Water supply line, Nelson stated.
Taxpayers passed a bond in November 2005 which would allow residents to begin
receiving Dallas water once the entire seven-mile project was completed in the
spring of 2008.