Cutting Storm Sewer Project Cost

The Hennepin Village Board’s streets committee met Wednesday, Sept. 23, to further discuss a storm sewer project near Sixth and Locust streets.

The committee called the meeting to discuss ways to cut the storm sewer project cost.

At the last regular board meeting, village engineer Bill Shafer announced the lowest bid on the project was $123,351. The board was anticipating to only spend around $85,000.

Village board member Matt Dean expressed concern with using a large portion of the village’s general fund to pay for the cost of the project.

On Wednesday. Sept. 23, Quentin Buffington, Dean, village President Kevin Coleman and Shafer met with village resident Charlie Judd, who heard about the high cost of the project and had thought of an alternative solution to the problem with a less expensive price tag.

Judd is a property owner in the area were the village is having issues with the storm sewer, and he has had water in his basement due to the limited water flow.

Judd has a background in similar construction projects, and his sons own Judd Construction of Hennepin.

His proposed solution involved placing more storm drain inlets in the area to help direct the water flow to a nearby ditch, that would have to be dug deeper. He said some of the work involved could be completed by village employees, thus saving the village money on labor.

Judd estimated the cost of his idea to be in the range of $25,000 to $30,000.

Buffington had some hesitation on whether Judd’s idea would work and said he wasn’t comfortable with village employees taking on the work. Shafer also recommended certain parts of the project be contracted out, which Coleman agreed.

Coleman said there are variables to consider for the project.

The full board will meet in a special meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 30. They will review Judd’s purposed plan and decide whether they want to keep the current project bids or go for new bids on the project.

Source: Putnam County Record