Posted on August 19, 2024
AROMA PARK — Andy Wheeler left Tuesday’s Kankakee County Board’s Highways and Waterways meeting somewhat disappointed.
The Kankakee County Board chairman thought the much-discussed and long-awaited dredging of the Kankakee River at the Aroma Park boat launch might not happen this year.
The apparent lone bid for the project came in $400,000 over — or about 67% —the engineer’s estimate. The deadline was Tuesday for submitted bids for the project estimated to be just over $600,000.
It didn’t take long for Wheeler’s spirits to be lifted several notches when he learned soon after that another bid was received on time, but it was inadvertently left in the mail room and not brought up to the Highways and Waterways meeting that morning.
“So there is good news, because I was like, ‘Man, this is going to push [back] the project,’” said Wheeler when contacted Thursday by phone. “Right now, I think we’re going to still be on track until I hear different from the engineers.”
Once the other bid was found in the mail room, Wheeler consulted with the Kankakee County State’s Attorney office and was told they open up the bid in public in the next scheduled board committee meeting which was the Criminal Justice Committee on Wednesday.
County Engineer Greg Heiden opened the bid at the Criminal Justice meeting, and it was for $404,725 by JS McCullough Excavating and Silt Removal, of Coatesville, Ind. It’s well under the engineer’s estimate.
BIDS UNDER REVIEW
The other bid submitted was from JF Brennan Company, of Ottawa, for $1,071,100. Both bids are being referred to Christopher Burke Engineering, of Indianapolis, Ind., for review to make sure they meet the required specifications.
In regards to the Brennan bid, A.J. Fricke, director of engineering for Burke Engineering, said they will review it as well. Burke Engineering has been contracted to oversee the project.
“I would like to see the line item break down on the bid schedule to see where the cost differences may be from the engineers’ estimate,” he said.
The entire project is being paid for by $1 million secured in 2022 from the state by State Sen. Patrick Joyce, D-Essex.
If the low bid by JS McCullough is accepted after the review, Wheeler said the county has enough left from the state to cover the project with some money left over. There’s approximately $800,000 remaining.
“The engineers are going over them to make sure it’s all correct and bid the right way and everything,” Wheeler said. “… If the bid matches, we have more than enough, and then we’ll explore what else we can do.”
Once Wheeler gets notified by Burke Engineering that the low bid has met all the technical requirements and has proper permits, it can be accepted and awarded at the Finance Committee meeting on Aug. 28.
“We don’t have to wait until the next full board meeting [in September],” he said. “We will clean it up at the full board meeting, but finance [committee] has the ability to move it on so we can get the engineers planning, the mobilization and all of that stuff with the equipment. … I was depressed, and as soon as I left the [Waterways] meeting I was happy that there was another opportunity. And then [Wednesday] was elated that the bid was under Burke Engineering’s estimate.”
According to its website, JS McCullough has been doing mechanical dredging since 2008, and it has three barges, a long reach excavator, and four tracked dump trucks. It has done work on Geist and Morse reservoirs in suburban Indianapolis as well as work in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky.
There is going to be approximately 9,500 cubic yards of sand/sediment removed from the Kankakee River at the project site which is at Potawatomi Park in Aroma Park. Sand will be removed directly in front of the ramp and an approximate 30-foot width between the boat ramp and the island in the middle of the river. The area adjacent to the parking lot at the boat launch will be used for temporary staging of equipment used during the work.
The dredging project, first announced in September of 2022, will remove sand from directly in front of the ramp at the river to allow for access by emergency responders and for recreational boating.
