By Liz Adkins
InkFreeNews

PIERCETON — Pierceton’s council rejected the sole bid it received for its upcoming sidewalk project during an Aug. 22 special meeting.

Chad Salzbrenner, senior project manager at Fleis & VandenBrink, attended the meeting and recommended the council reject a bid it received from Phend & Brown. Salzbrenner said the bid was in excess of the engineer’s estimate for the project.

Pierceton is planning to construct a six-foot-wide sidewalk, with ADA ramps, on School Street to Third Street and then on Third Street from School Street to Catholic Street.

Council Member Matt Brubaker said he would like to see at least two different bids for the sidewalk project. The council approved denying the bid from Phend & Brown and re-opening the project for bidding.

New bids for the project will be opened at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 25, with Salzbrenner presenting his recommendation at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 3.

“There were three contractors who were interested in bidding,” said Salzbrenner. “Both of (the contractors who did not submit bids) had reasons as to why they did not end up submitting a bid. I think it’s likely that they would submit a bid if it would be re-bid.”

In other business, Steve Henschen, a senior engineer with Jones Petrie Rafinski Corp., attended the meeting to review a contract for the town’s master utility study. Pierceton’s stormwater, wastewater and drinking water systems are all included within the study.

Henschen said the study is a two-phase project, with the first phase focused on gathering data. He estimated the study would be nine months long, with JPR establishing a committee of local concerned citizens to identify critical parts of what Pierceton needs for the aforementioned utilities.

Council also delayed opening bids for the town’s improvement projects at Pierceton-Washington Township Park. The bids will be opened during a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 3.

Pierceton Council’s next regular meeting is at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 9.