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Contractor tapped for water project $8.97 million contract nears OK By Wendy Siporen A general contractor from Dallas likely will be awarded a $8.97 million contract to construct the Talent-Ashland-Phoenix water intertie with the Medford Water Commission. City councils for the three cities will meet next week to authorize awarding the contract to James W. Fowler Co. The 150-employee company�s civil division specializes in large-diameter storm, sewer and waterline construction, street and highway construction, mass excavation, golf course construction, pre-cast and cast-in-place concrete retaining walls and bridges. Previous Fowler Co. projects include the Camas wastewater treatment plant, the Fairview city hall and OMSI. Errors in the bid process delayed a bid recommendation by a month while Montgomery Watson Engineering evaluated the situation. "The good news is it�s well within budgeted amount," said Ashland Public Works Director Paula Brown. A total of four bids were received, ranging from $8,833,105 to $9,489,827, well under the engineer�s original estimate of $10.66 million. A total of 15 companies wanting to do work on the water pipeline were required to go through a prequalification process and all were certified. The lowest bid, $8.84 million from Huffman-Wright, included a subcontractor that had not been prequalified and was therefore rejected. If the three cities award the contract in the next week, work should begin in mid-September and be completed by the end of 2001. The TAP project includes a 24-inch pipeline from Medford to Talent, a regional pump facility, new reservoirs and additional service lines in Phoenix and Talent. Ashland will pay for a portion of the design and engineering as well as $1.11 million in construction costs to upgrade the pipeline for possible future connection with the city. The project is being funded by grants and loans through the Rural Utilities Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Loans will be repaid through increased water rates in Talent and Phoenix. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA