Port bluff protection project stymied again

The installation of three drain lines on the bluff at Port Washington’s Upper Lake Park — a project intended to eliminate or at least reduce the potential for bluff slides like the one that left the entrance to the north beach covered in clay for the better part of two months this spring — is taking longer than expected.

On Tuesday, the city’s Board of Public Works rejected the lone bid the city received for the project.

The bid by Vinton Construction was for $452,000, well above the $100,000 budgeted for the work.

Public Works Director Rob Vanden Noven told the board that the city will rebid the project, but only after having a discussion with contractors and representatives of Miller Engineers and Scientists, the Sheboygan firm that is the city’s bluff consultant, to find out why it’s been so difficult to get a good bid for the work.

“Is it the design? Is it the size of the project?” he asked. “Is it a lack of available contractors? Some of it is that there’s a ton of work out there. And there’s not a lot of directional drillers.

“We have to find where the disconnect is.”

This was the city’s second attempt to get a contractor for the project.

Initially nine firms expressed interest in the project but none of them submitted a bid.

City Engineer Roger Strohm said in a memo to the board that the city contacted the nine firms to find out why they didn’t submit bids. Their reasons included the fact they were too busy, couldn’t find a reputable subcontractor to do the required directional drilling and they had other bids due at the same time.

After that, he noted, the city reached out to several firms to try and attract them, extending the completion date to make it a more attractive project. One firm said it was outside its typical work area, another said it had enough work for the year and a third said it had concerns about the work.

Strohm said one challenge seems to be the installation of a perforated piece of pipe through sand seams in the bluff, which is intended to intercept water in the seam and redirect it.

Some contractors seemed concerned whether they could do this effectively, he said.

“Normally on a project we don’t spend a lot of time reaching out to contractors. We’re going to have to get more aggressive,” Vanden Noven said. “If we can’t accommodate this design, I think we have to go back to Miller and say, ‘What can we do?”

Some tweaks may need to be done to the project to attract bids, he acknowledged.

“It’s an unusual project. It’s not like bidding a street project,” Vanden Noven said.

Ald. Mary Lou Mueller, a member of the committee, asked if there is a better time to bid the project.

City Engineer Roger Strohm said the work could be done in winter, adding that may be a better time.

“We don’t want to be closing the beach now,” he said.

Noting that the project is relatively small, Ald. Mike Gasper, the board chairman, asked if it could be combined with another project to maker it more attractive. That’s something that will be examined, Vanden Noven said.

The drain project is being funded in part by a $40,000 Wisconsin Coastal Management grant, with a Dec. 31 deadline. The city will apply for an extension of the grant, Vanden Noven added.