West Melbourne awards $7.9 million contract for raw-water conveyance line

The West Melbourne City Council voted to award a contract to Accurate Drilling Systems not to exceed $7,915,183.50 to install raw-water conveyance lines connecting newly drilled production wells to the city’s new water treatment plant.

The project, described by city staff as “the last big piece of our water plant puzzle,” includes nearly 3.5 miles of piping and multiple directional-drilling crossings under canals and major roads. Mark Petrone, a city staff member presenting the item, said the design and bid documents were completed by Infrastructure Engineering Group and the city received four bids when the project opened in December.

Council members pressed staff about a large disparity among bids. “There’s such a disparity between the lowest bid and the highest bid … that just seems like, awful lot of money to be doing the same exact thing. Why is that?” Councilmember Voltz asked during the discussion. Petrone replied that the project requires specialized directional drilling and that Accurate Drilling Systems checked out well in references and technical reviews. He also said the recommended contract amount includes two bid reductions (bid alternate 1 and bid alternate 3) that lower the base bid by roughly $77,730.

Councilmember Frampus moved to approve the contract award and Councilmember Adams seconded. The motion passed 7–0.

The contract amount presented to the council—$7,915,183.50—reflects the low bid after the two reductions included in the recommended award. Petrone told the council the design includes primarily 12-inch and 16-inch pipe, with some segments up to 20 inches where lines merge, and that the package includes a 5% owner’s contingency. He also noted the city and its engineer performed reference checks and technical reviews before recommending the low bidder.

The project is funded in the water treatment plant budget; city staff said the bid came in slightly below the engineer’s probable cost. Petrone said the contractor is responsible for avoiding or repairing any utility strikes during construction, and that the city’s prior surveying and utility locating work should reduce those risks.

Councilmembers who raised questions emphasized the difficulty of comparing specialized bids and said they were satisfied by the references and the engineer’s recommendation. The council approved the contract by voice vote; no individual roll-call votes were recorded in the meeting transcript.

The city did not provide a construction start date at the council meeting. The presentation noted the wells were completed in 2024 and the conveyance lines are the final element needed to deliver raw water to the treatment plant.