Town approves design bid to extend service from Locust to Park

COLUMBUS — The town of Columbus recently approved a $9,250 design bid for a project to extend its sewer service from Locust Street to Park Street.

The town received two bids, a $16,500 one from WitherRavenel and a $9,520 one from Municipal Engineering Services Company. MESC is already doing the design for the town’s new water tank and sewer work downtown.

“The public works director has a quote of about $50,000 from a contractor, however, plans have to be drawn and certain permits have to be acquired before any work could begin,” said Columbus Town Manager Tim Barth.

Councilman Mark Phillips asked during the Columbus Town Council’s meeting last week how there is such a huge difference in the two quotes.

“They bid just to bid,” Phillips said. “They don’t really want the job. That’s my theory.”

Barth said that is one theory, but both are good firms.

“These are both well-respected firms and they were nice enough to give us quotes,” Barth said. “The ones who are currently doing work for us definitely made a good offer.”

The town plans to install sewer lines from Locust Street to Park Street, an idea leaders first discussed during their budget workshop in February.

The council also approved a bid from MESC to design installing a second chlorine contact chamber at the wastewater treatment plant. The two bids were from the same two companies, with WitherRavenel bidding $35,500 and MESC bidding $18,505.

The currently only has one chlorine contact chamber, where treated wastewater goes right before it is released into the creek. Barth sais the chamber is an absolute essential part of the treatment process.

“When the chlorine contact chamber has to be cleaned, and it does need to be cleaned every few months, the chamber has to be stopped and that backs up the flow at the plant,” Barth said. “This is not a huge problem, but the plant works better when it has a constant flow that is working its way through the treatment process. There is room to add a second contact chamber at the plant, and it would make it much easier to clean one contact chamber while the second one takes over the flow from the plant.”