City to save on water treatment plant price tag

The apparent low bidder is IMCO General Construction of Ferndale at $56 million.

The second lowest bid was from Stellar J Corporation from Woodland, Wash.. at just under $57 million. One other bidder, Mountain Cascade, actually came in lower than either of these two bids, but then asked to pull the bid, claiming an error in their bid. Their bid was $51 million.

City Public Works Director Fred Buckenmeyer said, in an email, "We are now in the process of checking the lowest bid packages for irregularities etc. We still anticipate making a recommendation on contract award in December." 

Buckenmeyer said the review process could take several weeks due to the complexity of the bid packages. He said the city received 12 bids, ranging from $72 million to $51 million, including the one that was withdrawn.

Construction is expected to start in February and be 'substantially complete' in 2013.