City Council May Approve Bell St. Bid That’s $5.5 Million Over Budget

SAN ANGELO, TX -- San Angelo City Council members Tuesday may approve the sole bid to reconstruct Bell St. that could be as much as $5.5 million over budget.  

According to the city’s website, Reece Albert was the lone bidder for the reconstruction project that will replace the road surface and water and sewer lines from Rio Concho Drive to the Old Ballinger Highway.  The bid was opened Jan. 30.    

Last year, the city budgeted $16.7 million for the Bell St. project.  Construction was set to begin in the fall of 2017 but the project was delayed because of right-of-way issues and over budget bids.  Reece Albert’s bid was for a total cost of $19,800,531.86 for asphalt paving or $22,255,976.01 for concrete pavement.  The agenda item calls for discussing funding and consider awarding the bid to Reece Albert, Inc. for either one of paving options.  

Funding for the project would include $9,962,865 from the street bond fund, $7,275,431 from the water capital fund, and $5,017,681 from the sewer capital fund for a total of $22,255,977.  

The city contacted 23 construction companies and received the one bid from Reece Albert.  According to the city website, the city contacted Allen Keller Construction Company of Fredericksburg which declined to bid because of their current workload.  Two companies declined to bid because they couldn’t be competitive.  

The Bell Street project is the second project in a 10-year, $80 million plan to rebuild the worst streets in San Angelo. Martin Luther King Boulevard was the first project, and the first to make use of a federal grant. These projects come after Fugro Roadware conducted a technical analysis of 660 lane miles of city streets. The results showed that San Angelo's streets had earned a pavement condition index of 45.9 on a 100-point scale. The study further showed that Bell and 29th Street, MLK, College Hills and Southwest Boulevards and Avenue N and Glenna Drive required total reconstruction, as well as rebuilding of roadway bases. These findings prompted the City Council to commit to issuing $16 million in bonds every other year over the upcoming decade to finance these street projects. As a quick reminder, the debt accumulated will not impact property tax rates, city officials said.  

Also on Tuesday’s city council agenda is to consider approving a task order to Enprotec Hibbs and Todd, Inc. in the amount of $1,120,000 for design of College Hills from Loop 306 to Ave N CIP project and authorizing the City Manager to execute all related documents.  

This design is for reconstruction of College Hills from loop 306 to Ave N. It will include reconstruction of culvert banks at the two Red Arroyo crossings, an evaluation and possible design of underground drainage conveyance in College Hills, sidewalk/pedestrian conveyance, bike lane access, water and wastewater infrastructure and multiple options for pavement sections.  

The San Angelo City Council meets at 8:30 a.m. in council chambers at the McNease Convention Center.