County approves award for Central Berkeley 9 MGD wastewater expansion after bid review and reference checks

Berkeley County’s Public Utilities Committee approved awarding the contract for the Central Berkeley Wastewater Treatment Plant 9 million gallons per day (MGD) expansion after staff and consultants reviewed the bids and checked references for the low bidder.

Council members questioned the disparity between the recommended low bid and other bids on the procurement list. Procurement staff and project consultants told council they had contacted the contractor multiple times; the contractor said it had coordinated estimating and felt confident in its price. Staff reported the contractor previously completed a pump-station upgrade for the county in 2016 and provided references who gave positive feedback on similar work, including an upgrade at a Santee Cooper water treatment plant. The consultant said reference checks produced no negative information about the recommended contractor.

Committee members noted concern rooted in prior projects where change orders became contentious; procurement staff said they had communicated to the bidder that change orders would not be entertained and that the bidder confirmed confidence in its estimate. The committee approved the award by voice vote. The transcript did not contain the final contract value in machine-readable form; council noted the low-bid difference but approved moving forward.