West Bend approves contract to replace private lead water laterals, cites county ARPA funding

The Board of Public Works voted to award Contract 2608 for private lead-lateral replacements to Essential Sewer and Water Services after staff presented bid results and reference checks. Public works staff Max said the recommendation combined the base bid and an alternate and reported a bid total of $1,111,375. Max said the project will be funded in part by surplus funds the city received from Washington County ARPA allocations and supplemented with water-utility and engineering inspection funds.

Why it matters: replacing private lead laterals reduces lead exposure risks for households and advances the city’s compliance and public-health goals while using time-limited ARPA funds, staff said.

Max told the board the county had reimbursed the city for the full estimated amount under an earlier agreement, leaving surplus funds the city must expend by year-end. “Based on the numbers that we received, we would recommend awarding to Essential Sewer and Water Services, their combination of base bid and alternate 1 for $1,111,375,” Max said. He added staff verified the contractor’s experience on similar projects in other municipalities.

Council members asked how many laterals the contract would cover; Max said the base bid included 71 laterals and the alternate included 14, for a total of 85 laterals. He also described the funding mix: county ARPA dollars reimbursed to the city, plus city water-utility funds and inspection budget lines. In the presentation staff also cited a not-to-exceed allocation figure of $1,000,178.55 when discussing contingencies and available funding.

The motion to approve the award carried on a voice vote.

Next steps: staff will finalize contract paperwork and proceed with scheduling the work and inspections under the selected bid.