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Show City scrutinizes Main Street bids by Christopher Smart Any day now any day. Parkites will find out any day how long Main Street will be closed to auto traffic for the installation of new utility lines. City officials are currently contemplating the complex bids that were submitted by two construction firms for the work that could take anywhere from 90 to 180 working days. On April 6, the municipality and the Snyderville Sewer Improvement District Dis-trict received the bids from Enoch Smith and Sons and a firm known as Westcon, according to the sewer district's manager, Ed Davis. He said those two companies were the only ones to bid the project of six or seven that originally expressed interest. And while Community Develop-. Develop-. ment Director Mike Vance would not,. , comment on the bid selection process, Davis said the bids were extremely complex because of the number of options involved. The municipality met with the sewer district on April 9 to review the bid documents for the project that will be 55 percent financed by the sewer district, 35 percent by the city and 10 percent by Utah Power and light. The construction project that will see a 12-foot-deep trench dug the length of Main Street was budgeted at $820,000. According to Davis, however, how-ever, the bids are in excess of $1 million. That price tag will vary depending upon how the project is tackled, he said. Following further study by the city staff, an explanation of the options available will be presented to the City Council in a work session scheduled for 3 p.m. today. According to a tentative schedule, the council will study the options and award the bid on April 19 with construction slated to begin on May 1. Davis said that the sewer district will work with the city and the ChamberBureau on public relations for the project. At a March 1 public hearing on the matter, Main Street merchants expressed fears to the City Council that prolonged construction .$ on Main Street could be financially -devastating. The Restaurant Committee of the Chamber of Commerce had earlier suggested halting the project for the months of July and August. The committee maintained that those months were the peak of the summer tourist season and crucial to restaurant restau-rant business. It is not known, however, whether that option is being entertained by the city. Susan McKinnon, director of special projects for the Chamber, said that a committee has been established to coordinate a public relations program aimed at keeping Main Street business going during the construction. Nothing has been planned yet, she said, because "we don't know exactly what is happening." |