A Troy construction company had the winning bid for a Marthasville sidewalk replacement project though its low bid only became official after a mathematical error was corrected. Cannon General Contractors was awarded the project after its bid of $40,654.52 was approved following a correction to a line item in its bid tab. Initially, the bid was listed at $41,397.02, or $164.77 higher than what was believed to be the low bid of $41,232.25 submitted by Greenhead Construction, of Montgomery City. The project to fix sidewalks along Highway D is being funded through a MoDOT enhancement grant provided under the federal stimulus package. New sidewalks will be built on the north side of Highway D beginning in front of the firehouse and running downhill. The current sidewalks are cracked, uneven and partially covered by grass in many areas. The error was discovered following the bid opening Jan. 26 when Bart Korman, of Lewis-Bade Inc., the engineering firm for the project, calculated every line item and found that an amount had been written down wrong. He said the amount for a 4-inch gravel overlay was priced at $825.50 rather than the correct amount of $82.50 in Cannon's bid tab. The miscalculation caused Cannon to have the second-lowest bid. "It's a tough call," Korman said. "It's not perfect. To me it's clear the decimal is in the wrong spot." It was then recommended by Korman to forward the bids for further clarification to MoDOT, which was required to review the figures. According to Korman, MoDOT signed off on Cannon's bid and found no problems in correcting the math error. During the Jan. 26 meeting, aldermen agreed to award the bid to Cannon contingent on MoDOT's approval. "That is why we check it," Korman said. Also at the bid opening, Korman allowed a representative of Greenhead Construction to sign his bid, sometimes considered an incomplete submission without the signature. A total of 15 bids were submitted, including three of which were disqualified during the bid opening process for failing to meet specifications. Karrenbrock Construction, of New Melle, had the third-lowest bid at $42,255.50. The remaining nine bids ranged from $52,552.96 to $91,205. The bids, which came in much lower than the engineering estimate of $69,382, will allow the city to have the entire stretch of sidewalks improved rather than a shorter stretch. City officials also expressed an interest in extending the sidewalk between 3rd and 4th streets if a separate contract can be worked out with Cannon. It was estimated that the extra stretch would cost the city an additional $3,000. Marthasville was one of only two cities in the Boonslick Regional Planning Commission coverage area (Warren, Montgomery and Lincoln counties) to receive the transportation enhancement grant.