May 7, 2002 By Nikki Stiles 2 min read

FAYETTE CITY- After some delays, construction on the Brightwell Drive project may start by the end of the month. On Monday, borough council opened six sealed bids they received from construction companies.

The bids are to replace a 30-foot gabion wall, which was damaged in a flash flood in August 2000 and to resurface the roadway on Brightwell Drive.

The estimated cost of the project was originally $110,000, but it is now estimated at $84,000, according to borough engineer Mike Wedl. He said some revisions were made to lower the price, such as the type of paving material was changed and the length of the wall was changed.

The borough has secured two Department of Community and Economic Development grants to pay for the project. One grant of $100,000 was secured through Rep. Peter Daley’s (D-California) office and another $10,000 grant was secured through Sen. Richard Kasunic’s (D-Dunbar) office.

The bids for the project included: E.J. Burns Construction located in Belle Vernon for $176,440; Five R Excavating, Inc. located in New Florence for $144,803; John Gulisek Construction located in Mt. Pleasant for $139,713; Rhino Construction located in Lower Burrell for $102,767; Manno Construction Inc. located in Ridgeway for $96,958 and the lowest bid was from Manown Contracting Inc. located in Belle Vernon for $71,419.

“I think the $71,500 bid (from Manown Contracting Inc.) is pretty close to what the project should be,” Wedl said.

However before a final decision is made as to which company is awarded the project, Wedl and borough solicitor Simon John will review all of the bids.

Until then, council agreed to continue the meeting until May 14 at 6:30 p.m, at which time a bid should be awarded.

Wedl said that once the project gets under way, it should only take 45 days to complete.