Mossville Road culvert repair approved in Peoria County meeting after single bid

Peoria County approved a resolution to repair a culvert on Mossville Road after officials said they received a single bid that was below budget and estimate. Daniel Kelch, chair, called the motion and, after discussion, announced the vote as unanimous.

County staff member Jeff Gilles described the structure (number 3109) as “twin 9 foot diameter culverts” whose “bottoms are rusting and starting to corrode.” Gilles said the county would pursue a repair rather than full replacement while the structures remain in reasonable condition, describing the work: “we were going to go in and we'll tack weld um wire mesh to the bottom and then pour 4 inches of concrete in the bottom. Um this will help last make the covers last longer and get us through for a few more years.”

Gilles told the body the county solicited bids on June 2 and received only one bid, from Stark Excavating, for $105,170.75. He said that figure was below the county’s estimate of $125,000 and well under the $175,000 the county had placed in its budget. "So um this is under the bid under or under budget and um under estimate so we feel comfortable with awarding this to start," he said.

During brief questions about the contractor’s line items, Daniel Kelch asked why mobilization was the second-highest line item on the bid. Gilles said he could not explain the contractor’s internal pricing in detail: "Maybe it's buying the mesh or renting a pump and getting a pump there. I'm not real sure. Or maybe it's a mobile welder because they're going to have to get a mobile welder there to weld that stuff inside the culver."

A motion to bring the resolution to a vote was seconded (Sharon; seconded by Marcia). Kelch then called for the vote: "Are there any other questions? If not, let's vote." After the vote he asked, "Oh, so is it unanimous? Okay. Unanimous." The transcript records the motion passing and that the chair announced the result as unanimous; no roll-call tally was given in the transcript.

The county said it had consulted the IDOT Bridge office for repair ideas and noted the approach is intended to extend the life of the existing covers as a lower-cost interim measure compared with a full box or conspan replacement, which Gilles said could approach $1 million.