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Committee approves $1.60 million award for Sansouci Drive water-main replacement; vendor vetting questions raised
Summary
The Aurora committee voted 3-0 to award a $1,599,570 contract to Winiger Excavating for water-main replacement on Sansouci and Keeler Stone drives, after staff described repeated breaks and likely lead service lines; aldermen pressed staff about a vendor "good-standing" checklist and resident notification and timeline (about 68 weeks).
The Aurora Committee of the Whole on June 22 voted to award the Sansouci Drive and Keeler Stone Drive water-main replacement project (item 26-0368) to Winiger Excavating Inc. for $1,599,570. Kurt Meise of the Public Works Department told the committee the project responds to recurring breaks and water-quality complaints in the Sansouci subdivision and that most of the roughly 40 water services in the project area are expected to be lead and will need replacement.
Why it matters: The work targets aging infrastructure in a neighborhood built in the 1960s and will require resident notifications for water shutdowns and likely parking restrictions. Meise estimated the construction timeline for a project of this size at about 68 weeks and said the city will notify affected residents about shutdowns and parking impacts.
Details: Meise said the city solicited competitive bids (seven responses) and selected Winiger Excavating as the lowest responsive bidder; staff noted they previously used Winiger on an Elmwood project and were satisfied with that contractor’s work. Alderman Shore pressed staff on "Exhibit D," a vendor good-standing verification form attached to the contract packet, saying the form appeared blank on some committee iPads. Jolene Coulter, director of purchasing, said the form is part of the administration's March contract-administration policy and records internal checks (revenue, development services, property standards) to confirm a vendor does not owe the city; those checks are valid for 45 days and must be completed before committee action. Rich Jacobs, chief of staff to an alderman, said an IT display issue can make some uploaded documents look blank on committee iPads even though the Legistar copy shows the checks as completed.
Motion and next steps: Alderman Keith Larson moved to approve the award; the motion was seconded by Alderman Telmisacos and passed by voice vote, 3-0 in committee. Staff will complete the required internal good-standing verifications and proceed with contracting steps before the item advances to the committee of the whole or council as required.
Closing note: Committee members asked staff to provide a legible, printed or rescanned copy of the verification form for members who encountered blank PDFs on their devices.
