River Street Project set to begin in May

On February 6, the Saratoga Town Council voted approved the River Street Waterline Replacement Project. This project is expected to start around May 1 and completed by late summer.

Emery Penner, Saratoga Public Works Director, said two contracting companies bid to work on the project: Lewis & Lewis, Inc. and Rocky Mountain Sand & Gravel LLC (RMSG). According to Penner, RMSG was awarded the project with a low bid of $1.7 million.

“We put this project out for bid a couple of months ago, the two competitors Lewis & Lewis and RMSG put in their bids,” Penner said. “Lewis & Lewis put in a bid for $3.3 million so we awarded the project to RMSG with the lower bid. Currently, we are working on the preliminary aspects of the bid process and getting the bonds in place.”

He said RMSG will put in new asphalt and fix new drainage improvements in certain areas along with chip and fog sealing to finish this project.

“The River Street Waterline Replacement Project consists of replacing water mains and ending off where the Spring Street project near the town and shop facilities,” Penner said.

“It will run south towards the Hobo Pool and complete a loop down Maple Avenue and down by the Hobo Pool again. It will also move towards Walnut Avenue which includes new lines underneath the Hugus Ditch near River Street.”

Penner said grants will be used to help pay for the River Street project. Penner said it would save taxpayers money.

“This project is funded in pairs by special purpose tax funding and ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) grants the town has received for $700,000,” Penner said. “This will help cover the construction and engineering costs. We will be able to cover a little over a third of the project with the grant funding which is super exciting for the town. We will also get the same grant (we received) for the Spring Street project for $900,000.”

Penner said with the rising cost of inflation in the last three years, these grants have allowed the town to execute projects that were on the special purpose tax ballot.

Penner’s main objective in making this project successful is having good communication and organization with the contractors, engineers, and his team and to complete the project on schedule. For more information, please contact Town Hall at 307-326-8335.