The Atlantic City Council Monday approved bids for various street repair projects that will get underway late this Spring or early Summer. Snyder and Associates Engineer Dave Sturm said there were two bids for the Hot Melt Asphalt (HMA) Paving and Storm Sewer Improvement project. He recommended the Council award the bid to Henningsen Construction of Atlantic. Their bid of slightly more than $1.88-million was about $40,000 over the engineers estimate of the project cost.

Sturm said also, there were four bids for Portland Cement Concrete (PCC) Paving and Storm Sewer Improvement project in the City. The engineer estimated the project would cost $801,000. But the low bid of $712,317 was received by Carley Construction in Treynor. Prior to approving the bid, the Council wanted assurances Carley wouldn’t fall behind and leave work undone like they did last year on 22nd Street in Atlantic, and that there would be penalties in-place for failing to get the job done in a timely manner. Sturm explained that prior to the past year, they hadn’t had any problems with Carley. He attributed last year’s problems to the company having taken on more work than they should have. He says this year, the contract is set up on a “working day count.”

Once they start, they have 60 working days to complete the job, not counting weekends and rain days. Their work must begin no later than June 1st. Sturm says failure to complete the job within 60 working days will result in a fine of anywhere from $500-to $1,000 per day. Two other major improvement projects the City accepted bids for Wednesday, included a PCC patching project, and repair of the City Park sidewalk. Coffman Engineering’s Ken Coffman recommended the Council approve a low bid from Ten Point Construction in Denison of $287,785 for the PCC patching job. There were six bidders for the project, which the engineer had estimated would cost $276, 472.

The company has to begin work on the project by no later than April 2nd, and has 60 working days to complete it in order to avoid a $400 per day penalty. Coffman said the construction projects will cause some disruption in traffic flow in some areas of town, and detours in others. He says people will have to get used to one-lane traffic, flaggers and pilot vehicle on Olive Street, from about Commerce to the City limits near the KJAN studios, while the PCC patching project is underway. Coffman also recommended a low bid of $22, 319 from Precision Concrete in Atlantic, for the City Park sidewalk project. That was about $3,000 less than the engineer’s estimate. The total cost of the projects approved by the Council amounts to slightly more than $2.9-million, which is below the engineer’s estimates of nearly $3.52-million.