Cathy and I have started to hire out some of the work around our house. She had been wanting me to have someone else mow the lawn and I finally gave in. That is after I found out that our oldest grandson was looking for a way to earn money to buy a dirt bike. So, now he trims the grass and mows while his younger brother uses the blower to clear the sidewalks. Works for me.
The last couple of weekends they have stuck around afterwards to enjoy the new playground equipment in Memorial Park. If you have kids who are in the small minority who have not yet been to Memorial Park in the last few weeks, you better get there, it is brand new and the kid reviews have been great!
Before long there will also be cornhole pads to complement the playground and maybe give adults and teens something to do also.
Speaking of something to do, Cathy told me she had a great time at the Angel Wings annual walk. It was the first time for her and she enjoyed it immensely. The walk is Angel Wing’s primary fundraiser. If you don’t already know, Angel Wings is a local organization that helps cancer patients get to and from doctor and hospital visits. If you missed the walk, it is not too late to go online at www.angelwingsnetwork.net to make a donation. They would really appreciate it.
Another fundraiser coming up is the annual Festival of Trees on Nov. 21. This event has been going on in Weiser for decades. The event, sponsored by the Weiser Hospital Foundation, uses the funds for projects at the Hospital. If you have not yet purchased tickets you can go on line to www.2024weiserfestivaloftrees.afrog.org. Cathy and I look forward to seeing you there!
In City business this week, bids were opened for the construction of the Commercial Street project between State Street and E. 3rd Street. You may recall that the City received a grant for just under $2,000,000 to rebuild Commercial Street from State Street to Highway 95. Since that time, engineering costs have used about $300,000 to reimagine and plan the complete project.
However, $2,000,000 does not go as far as it used to. The S curve at Commercial and E. 1st Street and the wonky corner at Commercial and E. 2nd Street pose the highest traffic risks along Commercial Street. Also, the road’s subsurface in this section has always been soft and not made for the semi-truck traffic that uses Commercial Street.
Even with the modified project, the City and its engineers were not sure that the grant funds remaining would be adequate to cover the three blocks and so the bid proposal was broken into two bundles, one to get past the S curve and the other to go to E. 3rd Street. Keep in mind there was a little over $1,600,000 left for us to work with.
So, on the day and time specified to receive the bids, Mike Campbell, your Public Works Director, Ron McDaniel, the Street Department Supervisor, and myself along with the City’s engineer on the telephone, met with a handful of bidders to see what we had. The bids arrive in sealed envelopes to prevent tampering and are opened in random order. There were nine envelopes, but one was not sealed and could not be accepted.
The first envelope opened had a bid for $2.3M for the first portion and $600K for the second. Our hearts dropped. The next envelope was somewhat less, but still more than the City could afford.
Mike kept opening the envelopes and each one was less than the one before.
On the last envelope we finally had one that was within the amount we had to work with. Whew!
The City must go through a process to screen the bid to ensure it meets all of the criteria and once that process is complete the City Council must accept the bid. You might be concerned about the quality of work from the lowest bidder. But our engineer has worked with the company before and assures us of the quality of their work.
You can imagine the sigh of relief from Mike, Ron, and myself that after all off the time, work, and effort to have this project engineered and bid, we had one we could work with.
All of this is to say that the City continues to move forward on the Commercial Street project.
Well, that’s it for this week. I hope you are enjoying this GREAT fall weather. Weiser really is a great place to live, work, and play.
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