Josephine rejects all Milton Street sewer bids, approves new design and inspection contract

The City of Josephine Council on May 12 voted to reject all bids received for the Milton Street sanitary sewer and street rehabilitation project and approved a proposal from Dunaway Engineering to provide engineering design, administration and inspection for a scaled-down 12-inch gravity line extension.

Why it matters: Bids for the project came in significantly above staff estimates, prompting the city to pursue value engineering and a revised design that staff said could reduce costs and make the project feasible. Rejecting the bids clears the way for further design work and a rebid or a local contractor bid after the revised design is completed.

During discussion staff said the lowest bid received was “1.5” and the highest was “3.2” (units were not specified in the discussion). Staff recommended rejecting the bids and directed Jacob’s office to finalize a value-engineered design. Council then approved a Dunaway Engineering proposal for design, administration and inspection for the revised Milton Street gravity extension. Staff said that after the revised design is completed the city would bring a new contract and likely a local provider recommendation back to council.

Council recorded two formal actions on the project: rejection of all bids for the Milton Street sanitary sewer and the approval of Dunaway Engineering to provide design and inspection services for the 12-inch gravity line extension. No construction contract was awarded on May 12; staff will return with a revised project scope and contract recommendations.

Next steps: Dunaway will complete the revised design and inspection scope; staff will use the redesigned scope to solicit new construction bids and present a contract recommendation to council.