Bids for new wastewater plant come in high

The Hampton City Council learned at their workshop Monday that the lowest bid for construction of the new wastewater treatment facility came in $1.547 million higher than the project’s original estimate.

     The new facility was assessed at $6.853 million in October of 2012, but rising construction costs and other factors ballooned the price tag to $8.4 million, according to the latest contractors bids. Despite the hikes, Yaggy Colby Associates engineer Tom Madden said the numbers weren’t bad considering the timeframe it took to let the bids.

     “We can’t do anything to make this cheaper, unless we can time travel backwards,” he said. “They’re actually really great for this time of the year.”

Read the full article in the May 7 edition of the Chronicle.