Wright City officials moved forward with replacing more water lines in the Kerland subdivision after awarding a bid that came in nearly $80,000 under project estimates. The city awarded the low bid for the project to Mehler and Sons, of Silex, for $214,984.80 at last Thursday's board of alderman meeting. That figure included the base bid of $139,385.03 to cover the stretch beginning at 4th Street and continuing on Kerland Drive to North Circle. Two alternates that were included in the winning bid package include $36,392.24 to cover the stretch from West Avenue to W. 1st Street and $39,207.53 for the area from North Circle Drive to East 1st Street. Aldermen voted 3-0 to award the contract to Mehler and Sons. Alderman Jamey Abercrombie, who is out of town on National Guard duty, was absent from the meeting. The overall cost will increase about $10,000 to cover engineering costs, said Bart Korman of Lewis-Bade, Inc. A total of seven contractors submitted bids for the project. The project estimate was $184,650.54 for the base bid and $293,070.16 overall including Alternates 1 and 2. "The bids came in remarkably well," Korman said. "They came in at a very reasonably price." Lamke Trenching and Excavating had the second-lowest bid at $217,201. Other bids came in from Tap Utilities, LLC ($163,085.85), CJN Products ($169,945), VGP Utility Contracting ($174,864.70), S&S Utility Contracting ($187,521.51), St. Charles County Piping ($260,796.03). While the city had budgeted $200,000 for the project, Girondo pointed out other funds are available. She said the city has received additional revenue from having around 30 more water hookups than budgeted for. The city had planned on using $100,000 from both the water replacement fund and water fund. Karen Girondo, city treasurer/economic development director, said if an additional $35,000 was taken from the water replacement fund, that would leave $95,000 available for unexpected repairs for the remainder of the year. Public Works Director Larry Janish preferred moving forward with having both alternates included in this year's project. "I don't think we will ever get better pricing than what we got," he said. "At some point in time, we have to replace (the water lines)." Prior to voting to awarding the bid, city officials discussed using Mehler and Sons again. The city had run into issues with the company when Phase 2 was completed two years ago, dealing mostly with faulty patchwork and broken lines, said Public Works Director Larry Janish said. "We need a little better performance than what we had last time," Alderman Jim Schuchmann said. "We shouldered a lot of the burden." Korman noted that those concerns will be forwarded to Mehler and Sons representatives when a preconstruction meeting is held prior to the project beginning. He also said an information sheet will be placed at each residence's doorknob to inform them about the project. Work is expected to begin within 60 days. Since the city didn't have enough funds available to include alternate 3, Girondo said a fourth phase will need to be reviewed in the future. If the city had decided to include alternate 3 - completing the loop on Kerland Drive - the overall project would have increased to $255,173.18. Other streets that have yet to have their water lines replace include Midland and South Circle.