Evansville utility board approves bid awards and multiple contracts for infrastructure and software

At a meeting of the Evansville City Water and Sewer Utility Board, members approved a bid award for the Burkhart Road and Lloyd Expressway force main relocation and authorized several contracts and procurements for utility infrastructure and internal software.

The board awarded the Burkhart Road and Lloyd Expressway Force Main Relocation (Project U1209) to the apparent low bidder for $485,121, a figure noted as roughly 21.6% below the engineer's estimate of $618,121. Mitch Ferguson, a city staff presenter, told the board that four bids were opened, the low bid was reviewed by in-house designer Carly Barton and the city compliance office, and that the compliance review gave a positive recommendation. Ferguson said MBE/WBE participation on the low bid was 3.46% and that Talmadge Vick had confirmed the bidder made a good-faith effort. The board voted to approve the award; the motion carried after a voice vote of "aye."

The board also authorized advertising for public bids on the Stallings Booster Station renovation (Project U1064). Logan Booth, a city staff presenter, said the existing booster station—originally built in 1974 with a major rehabilitation in 1991—will be replaced and expanded to increase capacity from about 2,000,000 gallons per day to 8,000,000 gallons per day to meet rising demand in the northern pressure zone and for wholesale customers across the county line. Booth said the design phase completed in May 2023 but construction was delayed by easement and permit acquisition; the board approved advertising for bids and staff indicated public notices would run in the local paper.

On software and subscriptions, the board approved: a $12,500 upgrade to the board-management software (BoardDocs / Diligent platform) recommended by Chris Moody and Daniel Klansbrough; a $125,000 Microsoft enterprise licensing agreement to be procured through Dell; and a one-year master subscription agreement with Simpli Inc. for $26,450 to implement a central intranet platform integrating existing Microsoft 365 tools. A staff presenter said the intranet will provide a single, mobile-friendly hub that ties together email, Teams, SharePoint and shared drives, includes an AI-enhanced search, and aims to improve frontline staff access to policies and documents. Each software motion was seconded and approved by voice vote.

The board also approved a new on-call professional services agreement in the amount of $50,000 with Clarkbeats Inc. Staff described the agreement as a renewal/continuation of existing on-call engineering support used mainly for process-control assistance at water and wastewater facilities; the term of the agreement was stated to commence on approval and to terminate on April 28, 2026.

Board members asked routine procedural questions—such as whether easements were in hand for the force main relocation and when public notices for the Stallings project would run—and staff confirmed easements were secured and notices would be published this week and next. No votes failed; each listed item was moved, seconded and passed by voice vote.

The board noted ongoing operations updates, including river stage levels affecting field work and planned smoke testing for sewer leaks later in the week. The utility said it had issued an RFP for engineering design services related to a storage separation and pump-station project, and staff said proposals were expected in response. The board adjourned and stated its next scheduled meeting is May 27 at 3 p.m. at the Sunrise Pump Station.