De Soto city officials have agreed to buy a fine screen for its wastewater treatment plant and hire a contractor for a stormwater project on Hiland Court. Together, those expenditures will total $178,281.76.
The council voted 4-0 on March 18 to award a $104,300 contract to Lakeside Equipment Corp. in Bartlett, Ill., for the fine screen, which filters out debris, like plastics, to prevent damage to equipment at the treatment plant. Councilman Jim Akers was absent from the meeting.
City Manager Todd Melkus said the current screen is more than 40 years old and needs to be replaced.
“It’s still functioning but we’ve had some issues with it,” he said.
Lakeside Equipment submitted the second lowest of three bids for the project, but the lowest bid, for $91,942 from Ressler & Associates, was not complete and was disqualified, Melkus said.
He also said Cochran Engineering recommended the city accept the bid from Lakeside Equipment.
Melkus said the city already had budgeted for the screen project and will use funding from a $250,000 Community Development Block Grant to pay for it.
“This project is not at any cost to the city,” he said.
Melkus said the next step is to get approval to use grant funds to enclose the fine screen mechanism in a building to keep the mechanism from freezing up in the winter.
Hiland stormwater project
Also at its March 18 meeting, the council voted 4-0 to award a $73,981.76 contract to Jokerst Paving & Contracting in Festus for the Hiland Court stormwater project.
The company submitted the lowest of seven bids for the project, and Cochran Engineering recommended the city choose that bid, Melkus said.
He said the city budgeted $125,000 for the project, so he was pleased it came under budget.
Melkus said he expected Jokerst Paving to start on the project “relatively soon.”
He said there’s an area on Hiland Court where stormwater pools in front of a couple homes that are lower than the road. In the winter, city workers must put salt down because ice builds up there.
He said Jokerst Paving will install a couple of inlets to get the water away from the residents’ driveways.
Last month, the City Council voted unanimously to award a $46,253 contract to Kimes Contracting in Hillsboro for the De Soto Athletic Complex entrance paving project. The company submitted the second lowest of 10 bids for the project. DW Contracting submitted the lowest bid, at $44,970, but council members said Kimes Contracting had done work for the city before and chose its bid.
As of March 20, the project was underway.