McHenry County officials are moving ahead with Blivin Street work in downtown Spring Grove, despite bids coming in well above estimates.
The Blivin Street project came in around $711,000 above engineer estimates, McHenry County Division of Transportation Public Information Officer Hans Varga said.
The estimates for the project came in at $2.46 million, Varga said, but the low bid was about $3.17 million. The bids were opened on April 13. The county and Spring Grove are sharing the cost for the project.
The Blivin Street project includes pavement resurfacing, new pavement markings, new curbs and gutters, sidewalks on both sides of the street, on-street parking and pedestrian lighting, Varga said. It also includes retaining walls to make sure the soil doesn’t shift and railings for pedestrian safety.
The County Board first broached the price increase April 16, and there was talk of delaying the project.
Board member Matt Kunkle asked what would happen if the board voted no.
Assistant County Engineer Darrell Kuntz said he would assume in that case that the project would not move forward.
Kunkle said he felt the county should push back and said maybe the project should be delayed. He noted fuel prices were going up and said that if the board approved the bid, the war in Iran ends and oil prices drop, the county would not get the savings back.
Kuntz said concrete items, specifically those in storm sewers and retaining wall areas, were what escalated the cost. Oil and asphalt items were in line with estimates, he said.
Before the County Board vote, Kuntz said the three bidding contractors all had “different unit prices at different scales.”
Kuntz said last week that the cost of cement, an ingredient in concrete, is escalating “at rates that we’re not able to predict.” He cited the Randall Road construction project, whose current phase is ongoing in the Crystal Lake and Lake in the Hills area.
Kunkle pointed out that it takes a lot of energy to produce and move such items.
“So that is part of that escalation,” he said.
He said his company in the private sector has canceled two road projects because the price went up and they were no longer tenable.
Kuntz said that when projects are rebid, the second round of bids tends to come in higher. When the county rebid the Charles and Raffel roads roundabout near Woodstock, it came in several hundred thousand dollars more the second time, he said.
Varga said county and Spring Grove officials didn’t feel contract changes would reduce project costs.
County Board Chair Mike Buehler said in his 35 years in the asphalt and concrete industry, he has never seen the price go down.
The County Board ultimately approved the bid 13-2, with Kunkle and board member Pat Sullivan voting no, while board member Eric Hendricks abstained. Board members Michael Skala and Pam Althoff were absent.