PORT ANGELES – City engineers continued evaluating the bid results for the eastern urban growth area sewer extension project on Wednesday, delaying the award of the multimillion dollar project until possibly next week.
City Public Works Director Glenn Cutler said he didn’t expect the bid award delay to keep the project from being completed by Nov. 1.
The new sewer collector line will extend from the city’s sewage treatment plant at Ennis Creek to the 19.9-acre former Kmart site on U.S. Highway 101.
The sewer line’s terminus is the site of a planned 195,293-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter at Highway 101 and North Masters Road.
Six bids for the project were opened on Jan. 24 with the apparent low bidder being Primo Construction of Carlsborg at $4.6 million, about $600,000 over the engineer’s estimate.
After that, Clallam County commissioners agreed to assume the increased cost in exchange for the City Council waiving the requirement that county residents who hook up pay a 50 percent surcharge on their monthly sewer bills – meaning that hook-ups outside the city limit are half again as much as those inside the city.
The city has agreed, and the county will increase its hookup fee from $2,600 to $3,000 to cover increased project costs.
The Port Angeles City Council was scheduled to award the bid at its Tuesday meeting, followed by concurrence from the Clallam County commissioners at a later date, but instead delayed the bid award.
A meeting to explain the sewer’s route and costs to taxpayers and potential users tentatively is set for Feb. 27.
Both the City Council and Clallam County Commissioners approved an agreement in December 2005 to extend the city’s sewer system east of the city limit at DelGuzzi Drive along Highway 101 to the edge of Morse Creek.
Both governments will share new sales tax revenues they hope will be created by the sewer extension.
The county will pay for the sewer, although the city will supervise its construction.
In return for the county financing the project, the city has promised not to annex into the area until 2015.
