Stimulus deadlines squeeze sewer projects (12:28 p.m. 7/10/09)

Published: July 10, 2009

Sean Ryan
sean.ryan@dailyreporter.com

The Oct. 1 deadline to sign contracts for water and sewer stimulus projects is putting the crunch on municipalities and could force builders to increase bid prices.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources received more than $100 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for the DNR’s Clean Water Fund to give grants and low-interest loans to sewer and storm-water projects. But federal deadlines for awarding the money are straining all levels of the industry.

Engineers had to hurry to design projects to meet the June 30 application deadline. Cities must find a way to award construction contracts by October. Depending on the weather, builders must either hurry to beat the freeze or work in the cold and finish projects in 2010.

Any of those things could lead to higher bids, said Mike Campbell, chief operations officer for Ruekert & Mielke Inc., Waukesha.

The Clean Water Fund usually does not set deadlines for municipalities to apply for loans, so cities could get bids out earlier in the season. But the DNR had to set a June 30 deadline for the stimulus money to give municipalities time to engineer projects, said Adam Collins, DNR spokesman.

He said the department will announce grant awards late this summer, but could not specify when because the awards must receive federal approval.

Close this Window Bookmark and Share This Page

Save to Browser Favorites / Bookmarks