Cole County opens bids for Wildwood Drive Extension; four firms submit proposals

Cole County conducted a public bid opening for the Wildwood Drive Extension, project no. 2023701-1. Four firms submitted bids; county staff read each firm's base bid, a listed price for water-line installation, and two alternates. County staff said the submissions will be evaluated and bidders will be notified; no contract award was announced at the opening.

The four bidders and the prices read into the record were: Bloomsdale Excavating; MMLC; Don Schneider Excavating; and Treehouse Excavating. For each bidder, staff read a base bid followed by a water-line line-item price and two alternate prices. The transcript contains small, repeated number-readings that appear inconsistent in places; the county will verify the official bid amounts and arithmetic during procurement review.

Recorded amounts (as read aloud) included the following (noted where the transcript was unclear or repeated inconsistent figures): Bloomsdale Excavating — base bid read as $6,024,091.18 (transcript contained an implausible long form that appears to be a transcription error), water-line installation $47,529, Alternate 1 $169,462.98, Alternate 2 (concrete pavement) $2,448,936.50. MMLC — base bid reported in the transcript with two different readings (one read as $6,774,713.55 and a subsequent read of $6,074,713.55); water-line installation $36,300; Alternate 1 $183,312.35; Alternate 2 $1,426,771.70. Don Schneider Excavating — base bid reported as approximately $5,998,272.03 (transcript included conflicting numeric fragments), water-line installation $59,600; Alternate 1 $185,374.08; Alternate 2 $1,469,361.90. Treehouse Excavating — base bid read as $6,045,008.31, water-line installation $66,575.00, Alternate 1 $193,138.48; Alternate 2 $0.00 (reported as zero).

County staff concluded the reading by saying the bids will be evaluated and that the county will follow up with bidders. The bid opening transcript does not record any discussion of budget availability, funding sources, contract award criteria, or a decision to award; it contains only the reading of submitted bid figures and a closing remark that evaluations will follow. Any contract award, award conditions, or contract execution steps were not announced during the reading.

The project is listed in the bid record as Wildwood Drive Extension, project number 2023701-1. The county will determine responsiveness and low bidder status after reviewing the submitted documents and verifying arithmetic and qualifications.