Franklin awards $9.44M contract for West Side Regional Interceptor Phase 2

The Franklin Board of Public Works and Safety on Dec. 1 approved a construction contract with Subsurface of Indiana Incorporated for the West Side Regional Interceptor Phase 2 project for $9,441,566 and authorized the mayor to execute a notice to proceed once required documents are in hand.

City Engineer Matt McElroy told the board the contract follows the bids approved at the Nov. 17 Board meeting and that the awarded bid was substantially lower than the engineer’s estimate. “It was, I think, 13,800,000.0 was engineer's estimate…and our subsurface's bid was 31 and a half percent lower,” McElroy said during the meeting.

Staff also reviewed insurance coverage in the contract package and reported the bidder’s coverage structure—an underlying $1 million liability with additional umbrella coverage—provided the city with the required protection when the city is named as an insured party. The board asked staff to ensure the city is listed on the policy and accepted the format as equivalent to the bid specification.

The board voted to award the contract and authorized the mayor to sign the notice to proceed upon receipt of all required documents. The meeting record does not list individual roll-call votes; the motion was adopted by voice vote.

Work on the interceptor is part of Franklin’s broader wastewater infrastructure program. City staff noted the lower-than-estimate bid provides a cost advantage but did not outline changes to project scope in the meeting. Next steps are submittal of required contract documents and coordination of a formal preconstruction schedule.