By Carmen Ensinger
The Winchester water main project is now complete, and according to city engineer Greg Hillis, the project came in just slightly over budget.
Laverdiere Construction, Inc. submitted the low bid for the project at $2.570,547.60. At the Nov. 7 city council meeting, Hillis told the council that he had the final total and the costs associated with exactly what went into the ground. The project came in over budget in the amount of $131,267.18.
“So, actually, the project came in from start to finish, right about five percent above the actual bid at the beginning of the project, which is very good,” Hillis said. “The project was very successful for everyone. They put right at three miles of pipe in the ground within the city of Winchester. That is quite a bit of pipe and it went fast and easy for everyone.”
Hillis presented to the council for them to sign a change order in the amount of $131,267.18 in addition to a pay request for the contractors in the amount of $470,508.52.
Alderman Ron Bell asked where the additional funds were going to come from to pay for the overage on the project.
“We have got the money for that from the five percent retainage on the project that we held back,” Hillis said. “Since the project is complete, we can use that $135,090.75 in retainage. However, we will hold that until we get the punch list completed. There are just a few items left to do on that.”
The city received a grant in the amount of $1,031,000. The rest of the project was paid for through a $2,404,000 loan from the USDA.
The city is officially down to using grant money to pay the contractor now. Per the USDA guidelines, the city must spend its loan money before it can access the grant money.