Mount Carmel City opens bids for pool demolition; roof removal must be contracted because of asbestos

A city staff member opened bids for demolition of the Mount Carmel City pool and said the submissions will be taken under advisement. "We'll take everything under advisement," the staff member said during the meeting.

The staff member told the meeting the city sought the bids to compare costs between using city crews and hiring a contractor, and noted the roof removal must be done by a contractor because of asbestos in the roofing material. "The roof portion of it has to be done by a contractor because of the asbestos in the, the roofing material," the staff member said.

Bidders and amounts were announced by the staff member during the bid opening. The firms and the amounts as read into the record were: J Smith Excavating LLC of Allendale, Illinois (amount read as "2294897Dollars99Cents"); a bidder described as "our services" of Benton, Illinois (amounts read as "for bid 1, 14,000 even, and bid 2, a hundred 60 7600 dollars"); Guys Wire Excavating and Recycling (amounts read as "for bid number 112500" and "bid number 2136900"); and Swanson Excavating (bid 1 read as $30,950 and bid 2 read as $107,900). The staff member said the city would "take everything under advisement" and indicated the apparent low bids at that point: "so far bid number 1, if everything's addressed, would go to guys white for 12,500," and that Swanson would receive bid number 2 if the city chose that combination.

The staff member also said the city will be in contact with bidders; no award or formal vote was recorded during the bid opening. The meeting record shows the bid opening only; further review and any procurement decision are to follow.

Details in the meeting record were unclear for some amounts as read into the transcript; the article lists amounts and text exactly as spoken at the meeting when the figures were not unambiguous.