Massena water line bid below estimate

MASSENA — In a rare stroke of financial luck, village officials received a bid this week for the replacement of the Route 420 bridge water line that was $100,000 lower than anticipated.

Danko Construction Co. was awarded the contract for the project, which will involve drilling a new line beneath the Raquette River, for $171,935. Engineers had estimated the project could cost between $270,000 and $280,000, though that estimate included additional bridge work that no longer will be included.

"It's encouraging news," Mayor Randy G. DeLosh said. "We were very surprised."

So surprised was the village board that it has decided to take its chances that no major water line failures will crop up this winter by funding the project out of cash reserves instead of going out for a $320,000 bond as planned.

"Why not pay for it out of reserves instead of having to pay bonding fees, interest, etc.?" Mr. DeLosh said.

The village has not borrowed any money for the project. Officials were waiting to see how the bids came back before giving the replacement project the final go-ahead.

The project will replace a line that previously ran along the underside of the Route 420 bridge. That line froze and burst in several places last winter. While a secondary line running along the riverbed now feeds water to customers on the south side of the river, officials did not want to rely on this line exclusively, particularly since its placement makes it vulnerable to damage during ice-out each spring.

Department of Public Works Superintendent Hassan A. Fayad originally had expected to hire crews to drill a new line beneath the river and remove the old line from the bridge, which he noted state Department of Transportation officials were likely to require.

But the state has agreed to allow the village to leave its line on the bridge for now, with the understanding that should anything happen to it, its removal would be the sole responsibility of the village.

With estimates nearing $280,000 for the drilling project and pipe removal, officials had added estimates for contingencies and cost overruns and settled on a total bond amount up to $320,000.

Based on existing capital reserves in the water funds, Village Treasurer Daniel E. Case said the village had about $227,000 set aside that it could use to fund the water line project without needing the bond. He noted, however, that doing so would dramatically reduce available cash reserves in the event of an emergency later this year.

"It's a question of bonding now or bonding later," Mr. Case said.

Mr. DeLosh estimated the village could save approximately $5,000 in interest and $1,500 in bonding fees and legal work by using cash reserves instead of the bond.