Menands awards South End water and sewer contract to Newcastle for $9,844,032.40

The Village of Menands Board of Trustees voted to award the South End Water and Sewer Project to Newcastle for $9,844,032.40, the village announced during its regular board meeting.

The project includes full water-main and sewer work in the neighborhood bounded by Wolford, Amsterdam, Hendrick and adjacent side streets. Representatives from LaVeil Associates, the village’s engineering consultant, said bids were opened April 3 and four bids were received; the apparent low bidder later asked to withdraw and the consultant recommended awarding to the next bidder.

LaVeil Associates’ Ruben Hall said the board and project team restructured the long‑running project into a base bid with several alternates after construction costs rose roughly 40 percent from the original estimate. “We wanna get shovels in the ground,” Hall said, arguing the recommended award fits within the combination of grants and bonding already authorized by the village while leaving room to add alternates later if additional funding becomes available.

The board’s award covers the base bid (Wolford and Amsterdam and their side streets) plus Alternate 1 (Hendrick). Hall and village staff said alternates 2–5 will remain options to pursue over the next two years as funding allows. Hall also told trustees the funding agency was willing to support a partial build rather than requiring full original scope if the village proceeds as recommended.

Board members discussed contingencies and service laterals to private homes. Officials said the project will replace service lines from the new main to the shutoff box at the property line; replacement of the lateral from the shutoff to the house would remain the homeowner’s responsibility unless the homeowner separately contracts for that work. The project team said the contract will include a construction-phase inspection/coordination team and that the village will supply neighborhood and, where necessary, house‑level notices ahead of work.

The engineers said a contingency was included in the budget (approximately $700,000 for the overall project, with most contingency allocated in the base bid) and that the village can add work later as change orders if funding is found. Officials also said Congressman Paul Tonko submitted a federal request for roughly $1.105 million for 2026 that, if awarded, could be applied to alternates.

Motion to award the contract carried on a voice vote. The board directed staff and the mayor to complete post‑award administrative steps, including notice of award and contract signing.

The village emphasized the award starts construction on a project that has been in planning for eight to nine years and that proceeding now is intended to limit further cost escalation.