Fairport Harbor Village Council approves more bids from contractors for projects related to water system

Apr. 23—Fairport Harbor Village Council has approved bids submitted by contractors for three more projects that are linked to a plan to start buying bulk water from the city of Painesville.

Council took action on those proposals during its April 18 meeting.

In March, the village advertised its request for bids from contractors to construct a new water tower on East Street and demolish the current elevated water tank on Orchard Street; demolish the Fairport Harbor water treatment plant; and construct a secondary water-main connection between Fairport and Painesville.

Each endeavor is being completed as part of the plan for Painesville to begin providing Fairport with treated drinking water.

In September, the village entered into a 20-year agreement to purchase bulk water that is supplied by the city of Painesville. Fairport Harbor Village Council and Painesville City Council each approved the contract, which can be extended in 20-year increments.

This pact will bring about some significant changes in Fairport's current water distribution system.

Here are summaries of the bids that council approved on April 18 for the three projects:

—Construction of new water tower and demolishing the old one: Great Lakes Crushing Ltd. of Willowick was chosen to perform the project at a cost of $2.76 million.

The new storage tank, with a 250,000-gallon capacity, will be constructed on the property of the village Service Department at 1340 East St. Fairport Harbor's current water storage tank — which was built in 1935 and holds 200,000 gallons of water — is based on Orchard Street.

Only one other bid for this project was received. That proposal, submitted by Maguire Iron Inc. of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, totaled $3.64 million.

—Demolition of water treatment plant: For this project, Fairport Harbor's bid advertisement sought separate bids for demolition of the plant and asbestos abatement and hazardous material removal. Contractors also were invited to submit a combined bid to perform both endeavors.

When the bids were received and reviewed, total costs from the low bidders for separate proposals proved to be less expensive than any of the combined bids.

Council selected Moderalli Excavating Inc. of Poland, Ohio, to demolish the water plant at a cost of about $316,708.

The panel chose ProQuality Demolition of Campbell, Ohio, to conduct asbestos abatement and hazardous material removal. ProQuality submitted a bid of $31,016 for this aspect of the project.

Fairport Harbor will disconnect and demolish its water treatment plant at 5 High St. once Painesville starts supplying the village with bulk water.

Built nearly 100 years ago, the water treatment plant has become a costly place for the village to maintain and upgrade. The plant also is located along a section of Lake Erie shoreline that has often been touted as a prime spot for future economic development.

—Secondary water connection: Council selected Great Lakes Crushing to conduct the project. The company's bid of $415,848 was the least expensive proposal from a field of five prospective contractors.

Great Lakes Crushing will build a secondary water-main connection between Fairport Harbor and Painesville, along South Saint Clair Street.

CT Consultants Vice President Richard Iafelice, at a previous council meeting, noted that once the water plant is decommissioned, the village's only connection to Painesville's water system would be through an existing valve vault on Richmond Street.

"A secondary connection is advised," he said. "It's a guideline — not a mandate — from the Environmental Protection Agency for best practices."

He said that the secondary connection would be good to have during emergency situations — such as if the Richmond Road bridge collapsed and damaged the main waterline.

As it turned out, Great Lakes Crushing submitted successful bids for three of the four water-system projects advertised by Fairport Harbor.

Village Council, at its March 21 meeting, accepted Great Lakes Crushing's bid to upgrade Fairport Harbor's primary connection with Painesville's water system — an existing valve vault located on Richmond Street.

The company will install two pressure-regulating valves and a master meter in the vault for billing purposes.

Great Lakes Crushing agreed to perform the valve vault upgrades at a cost of $153,000.