PROJECT'S LOW BID AIDS CITY; FLOOD CONTROL WORK NOW SET TO ADVANCE

A lower than expected bid for work on the first phase of the Cape LaCroix Creek-Walker Branch flood control project could save the city more than $500,000.

Dumey Excavating and Brenda Kay Construction of Cape Girardeau submitted a bid of $7.2 million for the first phase of the flood control project, which was well below the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimate of $10 million to $12 million for the project.

The cost of the flood control work will be split between the Corps of Engineers and the city.

City officials said Tuesday they hope the lower construction costs will allow the city to recoup some of the additional money it had to spend for land acquisition along Cape LaCroix Creek.

The city completed land acquisition for the Cape LaCroix portion of the $42 million flood control project earlier this spring, but were required to pay more for the property than city engineers estimated.

City Manager J. Ronald Fischer and Planning Coordinator Ken Eftink were unwilling to say how much additional money was spent for land acquisition along Cape LaCroix Creek because it might affect current negotiations for property along the project's Walker Branch segment.

But both officials said any cost savings on the project would help offset the higher acquisition costs.

"It was a very positive bid opening as far as for the city of Cape Girardeau and the corps," said Fischer.

"My interest in the bid openings was two-fold. That the bids on the overall project came within the engineer's estimate, and they did, means the project is on go.

"The other projects that were included in the contract, which are 100 percent our cost, I certainly was interested in that, and was pleased to see the low bid was below our city estimate for those projects."

Bids on the first phase of the project, which includes channelization work along the creek from south of Bloomfield Road north to Arena Park and construction of an eight-foot wide recreation trail, were opened July 18 at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers office in St. Louis.

Dumey Excavating and Brenda Kay Construction of Cape Girardeau submitted a joint, low bid of $7,155,184 for the contract.

Other bids opened include Cosney/Wagner of Arnold, $7,188,185; Penzel Construction of Jackson, $10,266,257; and Potashnick Construction of Cape Girardeau, $10,340,540.

City engineering estimates for replacement of the Bloomfield Road bridge, sewer relocations and recreation items, that were included in the contract but will be funded solely by the city, totalled $746,600. Dumey's bid for those projects was $625,906.

Under Dumey's bid, the city will be responsible for about $1.6 million of the cost of the first phase of the project. Under the Corps of Engineers estimate, the city would have paid about $2 million to $2.5 million.

"It helps us out," said Eftink of Dumey's low bid. "Since the land acquisition was a little higher than what was initially estimated, the savings on the total project will help offset some of those costs."

The corps is expected to review the four bids and award the construction contract within 45 to 60 days.

Eftink said that if for some reason Dumey's bid was rejected, the second lowest bid was only slightly higher and would still be considerably less than the estimated cost of the project.

"All the items that were in the contract at 100 percent city cost, were also below the city's estimates," Eftink said. "So it looks like we'll go ahead and approve the contract.

"This was good news. We got some good bids."

The first phase of the flood control project will include construction of a vertical-walled concrete channel from south of the Bloomfield Road bridge up Cape LaCroix Creek to South Kingshighway.

A sloped-sided concrete channel will be built from South Kingshighway up to the bend in the creek behind the Aldi Food Store at 209 S. Kingshighway. The remainder of the creek's channel to the southeast corner of Arena Park will be lined with rip rap.

An eight-foot wide asphalt recreation trail also will be constructed along the creek. The trail will run beneath Independence, William, South Kingshighway and Bloomfield Road.

The entire flood-control project, which could be completed by 1994, includes three miles of channel modifications on Cape LaCroix Creek and Walker Branch, construction of a 157-acre water-detention basin north of Cape Girardeau, and construction of a four-mile hiking and bicycling trail.

The project is expected to reduce damages from a 100-year flood by 70 percent.

The city's share of the $42 million project is $10 million, with the local funds to be retired with receipts from a quarter-cent sales tax approved by voters in 1988.