Committee authorizes contract with Northern Construction for three sewer‑replacement projects funded by CWSRF

The Personnel Finance Committee moved forward a recommendation authorizing the city manager to execute a contract with Northern Construction Services Corp to perform three sanitary sewer replacement projects in Benton Harbor.

City staff said Northern was the low bidder and described the work as a bundle covering Territorial (Wakanda block), Cherry Street and Water Street, with project maps and a milestone schedule included in the recommendation packet. Staff said the Territorial section must be done first to avoid interrupting large equipment deliveries to a nearby facility.

Staff told the committee the projects are funded through the Drinking Water and Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and that the grant restricts eligible work to the sanitary sewer impact zone; curbs and driveways may be replaced when necessary, but full sidewalk‑to‑sidewalk reconstruction is not eligible under the grant. "We are limited a little bit more on this year compared to doing everything sidewalk to sidewalk," a city project manager said.

City staff quoted the bidder's base amount in the packet as $1,818,100 (the transcript shows a longer, garbled numeric string in‑line); staff emphasized the projects carry state funding conditions that affect what the grant will reimburse. The contract includes milestone timing with an early spring start and a completion target around late summer; staff said the work should have no direct fiscal impact on the city because it is covered by the CWSRF grant.

The committee moved the contract recommendation forward by consensus to the full commission for final approval.