Engineers flag very low bids for Phase 2 sewer work; commissioners ask for checks before award

Trumbull County sanitary engineering staff told commissioners that bids for the Phase 2 sewer project arrived substantially below the engineer's estimate and recommended selecting the low bidder pending reference checks.

Gary Nuzum, sanitary engineer, reported contract bid results and financing: Contract A and Contract B bids were well under estimate, with one low bidder (Express Underground) submitting notably low bids compared with others. He said the project carries a federal loan of $4,357,340 and that the county would receive 50% principal forgiveness on part of the award and a 0% 30-year loan on the remainder.

Commissioners pressed Nuzum for assurances that the low bid covered the full scope and would not result in substantial change orders later. One commissioner said he had heard of problems involving the same contractor in another county and asked staff to verify. Nuzum said reference checks had shown satisfactory completion of past projects and that Express Underground had worked recently on a county waterline project without issue, but he agreed to follow up on the specific Columbiana County concern.

Burgess & Niple, the consulting firm, had provided a bid-tabulation and recommendation; the board discussed whether unusually low bids might reflect omitted scope or administrative issues that could surface as change orders. "I just don't want to do $2 million in change orders on a project," a commissioner said, stressing the need to confirm the low bidder's capacity to complete the work as bid.

Next steps: commissioners requested targeted reference checks and additional vetting of the low bid before making a final award. The engineer's office will report back with the results of those checks and any recommendations from Burgess & Niple and the EPA reimbursement/funding conditions.