Supervisors accept rock and gravel bids; highway staff to review for low-price determination

The Gage County Board of Supervisors on Feb. 19 accepted all submitted rock, gravel and hauling bids and asked county staff to review them and return with a spreadsheet showing highs and lows and recommended low bidders.

Highway staff presented multiple bids from suppliers including Beatrice Sand and Gravel, Sites Quarry, Hard Rock Quarries, RL Team in Construction, Gainer Trucking and Excavating, and others. Bid submissions quoted a mix of pit prices and delivered prices with ranges depending on pit location and hauling option.

Examples cited during the presentation included pit prices and delivered ranges: washed gravel bed from the Alex/Boynton pits listed around $20.80 per ton pit price with delivered costs ranging into the $26–$33 per ton range depending on pit and township; one-inch-and-a-half crushed rock from Sites Quarry listed at $25.30 per ton with delivered ranges reported around $26.30 to $33.80; and delivery-only bids from several haulers ranging from about $3.75 up to $12.00 per ton depending on pit and route.

Highway director and county staff said they would review the envelopes, compile comparative costs and identify the low bidders for each material/location. “Becky and Mark will review all these anyway, and I'm sure Becky will put those together into a spreadsheet to where it's easily comparable,” the chair said.

The board approved a motion to accept all bids and forward them to staff for review. The motion was moved by Jurgens and seconded by Dorn; the clerk recorded the vote as 6 in favor with one abstention recorded (transcript lists one abstention as “team”).