By: Jeff Noble

Editor

Bids were accepted for the long-awaited KY 541-KY 205 water project in Northern Breathitt County on Tuesday morning. By the time the apparent low bidders for the two contracts were named, the total amount for the two came to almost $2 million.

Saying that “work should begin within 60 days,” both Breathitt County Water District Supervisor Shannon Moore and Ora C. Main of Nesbitt Engineering announced the low bidders in the County Courtroom of the Breathitt County Courthouse. Moore said after the bids were finished that “We’re moving in the right direction. We know that people in that area are looking forward to it.” The project will involve over 13 miles of water pipes and will start at Kentucky Mountain Bible College, cross Route 15 and stop just after Pegs Fork. Two water storage tanks - one holding 148,000 gallons, and the other one holding 88,000 gallons - will be constructed. The Jackson Water District will be the water source for the new project, with some 200 potential customers in the area affected. Of those customers, the majority of them are residential, with some small businesses affected as well.

Named as the apparent low bider on Contract 1 - the Waterline Extension - was Music Construction, Inc. of Mt. Sterling at $1,590,525. H20 Construction of Pikeville came in second with a bid of $1,659,950; while S. J. Cox Enterprises of Lebanon was third with $1,970,225. Laurel Construction of London was fourth with a bid of $2,522,200; and bringing up the rear was K. Carrender Construction of Somerset at $2,531,245. The low bid from Music Construction was below the estimated bid of $1,675,000 set by the BCWD and Nesbitt.

The apparent low bidder on Contract 2 - the Ground Storage Tanks - was Laurel Construction of London at $323,360. In second place was Kentucky Glass Lined Tanks of Lexington with a bid of $394,526. In third place with a bid of $396,640 was Welding, Inc. of Charleston, West Virginia. The low bid from Laurel Construction was below the estimated bid of $275,000 set by both Nesbitt and BCWD.

In total, the two apparent low bids on the waterline extension and the ground storage tanks came to $1,913,885, which was below the total estimated bids of $1,950,000. “We’ll take the bids back to Lexington, do the mathmetics and make sure they’re correct, then we’ll certify the low bidders,” Main told the crowd during the opening.

Moore said after the bids were announced that after this project was completed, the area along Watts in southern Breathitt County would be constructed next. He and Main stated that once the 541-205 project is complete, “about 30 per cent of Breathitt County will have potable (drinkable) water.”