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News
Oswego sued over water main project contract : News : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisOswego sued over water main project contract
| Contractor objects to board awarding pact to second lowest bidder
| by John Etheredge
| 12/20/2012
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The Village of Oswego is now the target of a lawsuit in the wake of a recent village board decision not to accept a contractor's low bid on a contract to move a village-owned water main.
The board voted 6-0 Nov. 27 to award a contract totaling $2,394,276 to H. Linden and Sons Sewer and Water, Inc., of Yorkville to relocate the water main along Ill. Route 71.
The H. Linden and Sons bid was $11,435 higher than the low bid submitted by D Construction, Inc., of Coal City. The D Construction bid totaled $2,382,840.
In voting to award the contract to H. Linden and Sons, board members expressed a desire to hire a local firm for the project.
However, attorneys for D Construction filed a lawsuit in circuit court last Friday asking a judge to declare the village's contract with H. Linden and Sons void and directing the village to enter into a contract with D Construction.
The lawsuit was filed by D Construction's attorneys, Mahoney Silverman & Cross. The law firm served as the village's attorneys for several years ending in 2007.
In a related matter, Circuit Court Judge Melissa Barnhart denied a request Dec. 12 from D Construction's attorneys for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction that would have prevented the village or H. Linden and Sons from completing any documentation for the award of the contract or commencing any work on the water main project.
In their lawsuit, D Construction's attorneys noted that in a project manual issued by the village to their clients prior to the bid opening that "if the contract is awarded, it would be awarded to the lowest, responsible bidder whose bid complies with the requirements of the contract documents...nowhere did the manual state that there would be a preference for a local bidder."
The lawsuit charges "by awarding the contract to H. Linden, the Village of Oswego deprived plaintiff (D Construction) of the right to a fair bidding process."
The lawsuit also notes that D Construction employs 13 individuals who live in Kendall County.
D Construction has previously worked in the village. A decade ago, the firm rebuilt a two-block section of Main Street in the village's downtown business district. The project included the replacement of village-owned water mains.
The long-planned project will involve the removal and replacement of a water main currently located in state-owned right-of-way, which adjoins the highway between U.S. Route 34 and Paradise Parkway.
The project became necessary after the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) announced plans to widen the highway several years ago.
IDOT will widen Route 71 from two to five lanes from U.S. Route 34 west to an area just west of the Orchard/Minkler road intersection.
In addition to paying to relocate its main out of the state's right-of-way, the village will pay IDOT $325,000 as its share of the project cost.
In a memo to the board, Jerry Weaver, the village's director of public works, noted IDOT will use the majority of the village-paid funds for "street lighting, traffic signals and sidewalk and bike path installation."
According to the IDOT agreement, IDOT will have its contractors install a 10-foot wide pedestrian/cycling path south the south side of Route 71 from Douglas Street to an area just east of Route 34.
IDOT will also have contractors install traffic signals at the Route 71 and Douglas Street intersection. They will also install a noise barrier wall on the north side of the highway, extending east from Douglas Street approximately 900 feet.
On the south side of Route 71, contractors will put up a noise barrier wall extending approximately 3,600 feet from Paradise Parkway to approximately 500 feet south of Plainfield Road, according to the agreement.
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