MAHONING VALLEY Directors hear plans for MVSD repair bids

The lowest bid came from a company that started the design work years ago.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
MINERAL RIDGE -- CT Consultants Inc. of Willoughby is leading the race for a design contract to make much-needed repairs for the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District.
Chief Engineer David Tabak informed directors at Wednesday's meeting that four firms submitted proposals for the work, the first step in repairing the district's 16 filters.
Of the firms -- CT Consultants, MS Consultants Inc. of Youngstown, DLZ National Inc. of Cleveland and BBS Corp. of Columbus -- CT Consultants submitted the lowest bid and was ranked first by MVSD employees, Tabak said.
Directors took no action on the proposals.
CT Consultants, which completed about 95 percent of the needed plans roughly 10 years ago, bid $73,000 to complete the designs. The next lowest bid was from MS Consultants. The bids ranged from $185,000 to $326,000.
The higher bids from the other firms are because they would need to do the work from scratch, rather than complete and/or modify the plans.
About the initial work
The initial design work done by CT Consultants was part of a capital improvements plan at the district started in 1992. All improvements were halted in 1997 after a special audit of the MVSD by the state.
Directors agreed late last year to revisit some of the work, primarily focusing on the replacement of valves in the filter system. The improvements were mandated by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
In February, directors agreed to seek proposals for the design work after debating the issue for months. Directors were torn on whether to use a new company, or simply enforce the completion of the old contract with CT Consultants.
Tabak said Wednesday that time is of the essence when it comes to the repairs since deterioration has continued while the work has been on hiatus.
Unless the repairs are made soon, he said, within the next few years the MVSD may not be able to adequately supply water to its more than 300,000 Mahoning Valley customers.
Also at the meeting, directors unanimously approved routine contracts for chemicals used at the plant to treat water.
Pacts awarded
Contracts awarded were:
UHuron Lime Co. of Huron for pebble quick lime for $75.31 per ton.
UThatcher Chemical Co. of Weirton, W.Va., for soda ash for $178 per ton.
UUnivar Chemical of Bunola, Pa., for liquid chlorine for $327 per ton.
ULCI Ltd. of Jacksonville, Fla., for hydrofluosilicic acid for $146 per ton.
UTanner Industries of Southampton, Pa., for anhydrous ammonia for $560 per ton.
UDelta Chemical Co. of Baltimore for liquid sodium aluminate for $234.41 per ton.
UThatcher Chemical for potassium permanganate for $2,579.20 per ton.
UActicarb of Dunellon, Fla., for powdered activated carbon for $589 per ton.
USal Chemical Co. of Weirton for copper sulfate for $1,136.85 per ton.
Tabak said in each case, contracts were awarded to the lowest bidders, and the bids are in line with what MVSD traditionally pays.
slshaulis@vindy.com