SOUTHWICK – On Tuesday night, the Select Board approved DPW Director Randy Brown’s request to award a bid for installing a new water main and pump station off College Highway to Ludlow Construction of Ludlow, Mass..
Ludlow Construction was awarded the bid due to being the lowest bidder, coming in at $4,127,225.
The project consists of installing a new water main and pump station on the northern end of College Hwy, near the Westfield line. With an increased capacity, the new pump station will be able to draw more water from Springfield Water & Sewer, giving town residents a second water supply in case the town water supply ever happens to be out of service.
DPW Director Randy Brown is seen speaking with the Select Board about the project for installing a new water main and pump station. (Photo by Greg Fitzpatrick)
Brown commented last week that the current pipeline for the water main has had “its fair share of breaks and leaks the past few years.”
Currently, the pump station is located right off of College Hwy, just south of Wynnfield Circle. The new pump station will be about 2,000 feet north on Jarry Drive, right near the Westfield line.
Although Ludlow Construction had put in a bid of $4,127,225 for the project, Brown has noted that the project will cost more than that but still be under the funded amount. Additional costs, such as design fees ($228,000) and other non-bid construction related costs ($520,000), add an additional $748,000 bringing the total cost of the project to $4,875,225. Since there’s $5,060,546 available through town appropriated funding for the project, a remaining balance of $185,321 available for unforeseen issues, should they arise.
One of the larger projects the town has undertaken, Brown expected the project to come with a high price.
“The size of the project, the nature of the work dictates the cost,” said Brown.
In order to move forward, Ludlow Construction will need to sign the contract this week and then they will be given a notice to proceed from the town in the next few weeks. Once receiving the notice to proceed, Ludlow Construction will be eligible to begin construction. Brown added that he expects the construction to start in the late spring or early summer.
Due to the project cost, the town is planning to seek a bond for the cost of the project. While there hasn’t been a discussion yet for how many years the bond could be, Brown said that possible options will be talked about in the near future.
This project was made possible when two different warrant articles were passed at the last two annual town meetings. At the annual town meeting in May of 2017, Article 9 passed, which was to see if the town would appropriate $3,260,000 for the water main replacement on College Hwy. During the annual town meeting in May of 2018, Article 8 passed to appropriate $1,700,000 for the construction of a new pump station.
