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Olive Branch board approves Oldtown sewer rehabilitation contract after debate over timeline and $800,000 bid savings
Summary
The Olive Branch Board of Aldermen approved a contract award to Enscore for the Oldtown Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation Project after questions about prior contractor delays and a proposed 240‑day timeline; the low bid was about $800,000 less than the next bidder.
The Olive Branch Board of Aldermen on April 7 approved a contract award to Enscore for the Oldtown Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation Project after extended discussion about contractor performance, schedule and neighborhood impacts. Staff told the board Enscore’s bid was roughly $800,000 lower than the next bid, and recommended moving forward.
The board’s discussion focused on past delays on similar subdivision projects that stretched months beyond original schedules. City staff and Enscore representatives acknowledged learning from prior work and said they would apply revised sequencing (installing water system first to locate existing utilities, then completing sewer work) and other lessons to shorten disruptions. Enscore representatives described field challenges on older subdivisions—legacy utilities, poor topography and unmarked lines—and said the company had adjusted methods to minimize concurrent work in multiple locations to avoid extended detours.
Board members repeatedly pressed for an exact contract time line. Staff initially could not state the number of contract days on the record and retrieved bid documents during the meeting; later the contract period was confirmed at 240 calendar days with a target start roughly in late April or early May if the notice to proceed is issued. The mayor and board members emphasized minimizing business interruptions in Oldtown, suggesting night work or constrained outages for water-dependent businesses.
The board made a motion to approve the contract and the motion carried; the transcript records the board’s approval but does not provide a roll-call tally. Staff characterized the savings versus the second bidder as significant and said project phasing and preconstruction coordination (including a preconstruction meeting) would be used to reduce the risk of extended delays experienced on previous jobs.
What happens next: staff will issue the notice to proceed once contract documents are completed and begin preconstruction coordination with Enscore and the city’s construction engineering and inspection partner, Neil Schaefer. The board then moved into executive session to address separate personnel and legal items.
Sources: statements and motions recorded during the Olive Branch Board of Aldermen meeting, April 7, 2026 (public meeting livestream and transcript).
