Daniel Prince
Neighborhood Demolition Project rebid
At Tuesday’s Union City Council meeting, Debbie Woodard was presented with a retirement award for her 14 years of service in the administrative department. She also served the past few years as the director of Main Street Junction. 15 city employees were honored for October work anniversaries. Gerald “Rusty” Young has served 22 years in the Public Safety Department. Mickey Parker was honored for 21 years with Public Safety. Steven Means has put in 21 years in the Street Department. Dwayne Hardy was recognized for 20 years with the Public Service Department. Sarah Cobb has spent 19 years in the Utility Billing Department. Christopher Mitchell was honored for 17 years with Union Public Safety. Laura Hembree was recognized for 15 years in the Finance Department. Others honored with fewer than 10 years of service are Immanuel Kershaw, Solid Waste, 8 years; Brett Adams, Gas Department, 7 years; Dylan Beheler, Public Safety, 5 years; Jared Anderson, Gas Department, 4 years; Christian Patterson, Wastewater Department, 4 years; Jacob Robinson, Water and Sewer Department, 3 years; Andrew Treadway, City Shop, 1 year; and Anthony Worthy, Street Department, 1 year.
There were only two business items on the agenda. Council unanimously awarded the bid for the 2022 Water Systems Improvements Project to Smith Backhoe and Construction for $497,310. They were the lowest bidder among 7 who bid, with the highest bid coming in at over $771,500. The bid process was a bit complicated, as supply chain issues are putting the delivery of ductile iron pipe, which the city would normally use, at 14-16 months out. Because of that long lead time, the city had to also put out bids for the partial use of PVC, which could still take 3-4 months to get in. The price of Smith Backhoe and Construction’s bid including the PVC alternative comes to $560,165. The bulk of the waterline project is running a 10” line on Midway Drive to serve MycoWorks. Due to the construction schedule and the fact they hope to have the facility up and running before the end of next year, the city decided it could not wait on the availability of the ductile iron pipe, or DIP for short, to start the project. City Administrator Joe Nichols stated that they will use DIP in parts of the project, particularly for the parts where they have to bore under roadways. He said DIP stands up to heavy loads much better than PVC, but for the off-road areas, the PVC would present no problems. The other part of the waterline project is to run a 6” line to the airport for fire protection. Nichols said since there is no deadline on that project, they can wait on DIP to become available.
The Neighborhood Demolition Project for seven remaining structures was rebid, and three bids came back. Since the project is being paid for through a Community Development Block Grant, the bids had to meet SC Department of Commerce approval. There were problems with two of the bids. The low bidder did not use the proper bid form with the required line items, and the high bidder did not provide the required asbestos license with its bid. Both bids were deemed nonresponsive. The remaining bid was from Wilma’s Pump and Tank Company out of Greenville, with a bid of $114,900. City Council unanimously accepted that bid. City Administrator Joe Nichols said the original contractor on the project did not perform to the standard that the city required, and so the contract was discontinued, and the remaining work had to be rebid.
Mary Owens, representing Sisters on the Move by Faith Education Center, appeared on behalf of her group, informing council on their mission of motivating, educating, and encouraging seniors. They will be requesting some funding at next month’s council meeting.