VBT board approves contract for Harbor Club Lift Station

At a 17-minute meeting on Oct. 4, the Van Buren Township Board of Trustees unanimously approved a contract for $379,400 with low-bidder Lawrence M. Clarke to construct a new Harbor Club Lift Station for the sewer system.
Also approved was a 10% contingency of $37,940 for use at the discretion of Public Services Director James Taylor and up to $35,900 to Wade Trim engineers for engineering construction administration fees.
This is all being paid out of the Water and Sewer budget.
Harbor Club Lift Station is the oldest sanitary lift station in VBT. Director Taylor said it has been experiencing increasing equipment failures, including the elevator that is used to provide staff access for maintenance 45 feet below the top of the station.
The location of this station, at a high point on the property, places the well at a depth that requires an elevator to access and makes the well inaccessible to the Vactor.
Director Taylor said it has become a priority to replace and rebuild this station to improve the functionality and accessibility to the station.
There were three bidders for the project, with Clarke’s $379,400 being the lowest bid. Other bids were Dunigan Brothers, Inc. at $584,288.77 and Weiss Construction Company at $594,315. The engineer’s opinion of construction cost for this project was $450,000.
Dave Nummer of Wade Trim said they were concerned with the large difference between the bidders on the project. After talking to the contractors it was determined they all understood the scope of the work, but Clarke bid lower because he was local and had been to the site and had opened the manholes to inspect the work so had a better understanding of the work required.
Director Taylor told the board there is no start date yet, but they would like to start as soon as possible and be done by June 1.
In other business, the board:
• Approved the 2017 Departmental Fee Schedules, but pulled the page containing the “FOIA Procedures and Guidelines Wage Information” used to determine how much to charge someone requesting a FOIA based on the wage of the person doing the work to assemble the information. The 2016 hourly wages were on the list and it should be the 2017 hourly wages. After the board sets the new hourly wages in January this page will be adjusted and approved by the board;
• Approved the attorney’s recommendation for settlement of circuit court condemnation law suits 16-009339-CC and 16-009115-CC brought by Wolverine Pipeline. Trustee Jeff Jahr explained that VBT was joined in the case because they have property involved, but the township is not paying any settlement;
• Learned the absentee ballots were mailed to VBT voters on Sept. 30. If voters don’t get their ballots by Oct. 7 they should call the clerk’s office at 699-8909. Sample ballots are on the VBT web site at www.vanburen-mi.org .
The meeting was chaired by Treasurer Sharry Budd since Supervisor Linda Combs and Clerk Leon Wright were absent.