The Wright City Board of Aldermen voted to postpone road improvement projects on Stuermann Road and Second Street to next year after bids for both of those projects came in well above budget at their …
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The Wright City Board of Aldermen voted to postpone road improvement projects on Stuermann Road and Second Street to next year after bids for both of those projects came in well above budget at their Aug. 14 meeting.
The city had budgeted the Stuermann Road project at just under $88,000 and the Second Street project at just over $361,000. The low bids for those projects came in at roughly $135,000 and just over $565,000, respectively.
“These bids got sent out to three contractors that we regularly do business with, we’re just kind of getting later in the year and their schedules were all just booked up,” said Roettger.
The Stuermann Road project would have replaced two patches on the road where Roettger said there was base failure present. The contractor would have milled out six inches of the existing road and overlaid and restriped the road.
Alternatively, Roettger suggested the public works department could replace the patches this year as a band-aid fix and look for contractors again next year in the hopes they would receive more competitive bids.
The Second Street project, which had a larger scope, would have leveled and overlaid both First and Second Street to North Elm Street and would have paved the gravel lot at Diekroeger Park.
While Roettger did not suggest any work from public works on that project this year, he did point out that the Roelker Road overlay, which covered two miles of pavement earlier this year, only cost $400,000.
The board agreed that the exorbitant cost of both projects compared to their budget was not realistic and will go out for bid on both projects at the beginning of next year.
“It was physically painful to open,” said Mayor Michelle Heiliger about the Second Street bid.
Alderman Ramiz Hakim hoped that requesting bids at the beginning of the year would help to lower costs with more contractors applying before they fill up their summer schedules.
Heiliger conceded that increasing material costs could contribute to a similar situation when they go out for bid next year. She did note that since the bond money the city has for road improvements is invested in treasury bonds, they may also have more funds available for those projects at that time.
“If we wait six months, even if we make $20,000, $25,000, that’s part of Stuermann Road. So it makes more sense for us to hold off, gain some more interest and then spend a lesser amount later,” said Heiliger.
