First two phases of improvements for industrial park, Perryville will cost $800K less than estimates

It will cost substantially less than originally anticipated for Danville to build the first two phases of a large-scale waterline upgrade for the industrial park and Perryville.

Danville City Commission accepted the low bids for Phase 1 and Phase of the Corporate Drive/Perryville Road Waterline Project last week. An engineer’s estimate for Phase 1 put the expected price between $1.3 million and $1.5 million; the low-bidder — Hubert Excavating and Contracting out of Salvisa — bid $735,000. The estimate for Phase 2 was $550,000; Hubert was again the low bidder at $309,899.68. That’s more than $800,000 less than the original estimates for the phases.

Danville City Engineer Earl Coffey said he “absolutely” has confidence in Hubert, which has done work for the city before. On previous projects, they have kept their costs low and been ahead of schedule.

“We have had luck with this contractor. They have been very competitive in their pricing before,” Coffey told city commissioners before they approved the bids last week. “The fact that they were much lower than the second bidder doesn’t surprise us at all. We were excited whenever they picked up plans; we felt like we would get some good pricing once it was known they were going to be a bidder.”

The savings realized on the first two phases will “be utilized in the construction of Phase 3 if eligible,” according to a memo from Coffey to the city commission.

Phase 1 of the project includes construction of more than 12,000 feet of water mains, including mains as big as 16 inches; Phase 2 includes construction of more than 5,000 feet of water mains as big as 12 inches, according to letters from the company managing the project for the city, HDR Inc.

When the project is completed, a 16-inch water main will run from near the U.S. 127 Bypass out Perryville Road to Hughes Lane; a 12-inch water main will head south from Perryville Road and Hughes Lane to the Boyle County Industrial Park on Corporate Drive; and another 12-inch water main will continue out Perryville Road, through a pump station and to a 750,000-gallon elevated storage tank, according to a map provided by HDR.

Danville was awarded a $980,000 grant through the U.S. Economic Development Administration last May. At the time, U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie said the water-line expansion was “expected to create over 100 jobs and retain nearly 200, and will also spur further economic investment in the area — a win-win for the city.”

“The project will provide upgraded water supply and improve pressure to the Corporate Drive industrial area of Danville and industries located in the vicinity of (Ky. 34),” according to a project summary provided by Coffey last year.

The project summary states that the industrial area currently “can experience low water pressure due to existing line sizes and growth that has occurred and is still occurring in the area.”

“This lack of excess water supply may curtail growth and expansions in the area. The project will create jobs and private investment that will stimulate the local economy and address issues of distress in Boyle County,” the summary reads.

The project will also help with “expansion of a larger water main west along Perryville Road that will connect the system to a new elevated storage tank,” according to the report.

Businesses potentially affected by the upgrades identified on a map in a preliminary engineering report are Meggitt Aircraft Braking Systems, TransNav Technologies, Bolts & Nuts Corporation, Denyo Manufacturing and Ferm Solutions/Wilderness Trail Distillery.

The project’s total cost was originally estimated at $1.9 million, with the EDA grant funding covering about half of that. Part of the cost is also expected to be covered by leftover Rural Development funds from the recently completed expansion project at the Coldiron-Watkins Memorial Water Treatment Plant.