Improvements to Seaford’s wastewater treatment facility will cost significantly more than expected.
The city issued a call for bids for the first phase of expansion in mid-November. At a meeting Tuesday, council members got some bad news. The lowest bid - $13.1 million - would be some $2.8 million more than the estimated cost
Christopher Derbyshire is with the engineering group working on the project.
“We have looked at this project and it's our professional opinion that a rebid will not improve the bid amounts or garner more interest," he told council members.
The city can afford to continue with the project by taking money away from the next phases, but they will have to fill the shortfall eventually. Still, Derbyshire urged council members to proceed, noting the city has until mid-February to either reject or accept a bid.
Controversial trade policies from the White House seem to be part of the problem, Derbyshire said.
“It just seems like everything is just constantly going up, going up," he said. "And not to blame the tariffs, but the tariffs definitely were something, in conversation with the contractors that, there obviously was concern with those, some uncertainty.”
Council voted unanimously to award the contract with little discussion.
