It seems no one wants to build Seward’s new water tower. At least, not yet.
The Seward City Council approved letting the project out for a second round of bidding Feb. 21 after a first round in November yielded no results.
“Despite having six prime bidders pay for project documents, we got no bids,” City Engineer Mike Oneby said.
City staff contacted some of those bidders to see why they didn’t submit a quote. They were told the project involved too many different kinds of work.
So, the city decided to split the project in three and allow separate bids on each part.
The first part includes the tower itself with a foundation, a 500,000-gallon steel tank, control equipment, piping and valves – estimated at $2.5 million.
The second part is for utility and site work to create proper drainage and replace some pavement – estimated at $550,000.
The third part includes demolition of the old tank structure once the new one is put into service and replacing additional concrete – the cost of which Oneby said is still unknown.
Bids on the first part will include a basic “Seward” logo on three sides of the tank, though more elaborate designs may be considered in an alternate bid.
Bids will be opened March 29 and considered at an April council meeting.
