WINNSBORO – The Winnsboro Town Council will have to wait a while longer before it will get official bid recommendations on the Broad River Project from HPG & Co. Consulting Engineers., Inc. HPG can’t make the recommendations until it gets input on the bids from the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), Town Manager Don Wood told Council last week.
Wood said the delay by DHEC effectively halts the town’s bid process, and it is not known what the timetable is for a DHEC response. The delay, however, is not expected to have much effect on HPG & Co.’s involvement in the bid recommendation process.
“Like I said, they (DHEC) are very slow and they’ve got their own timeframe, but we will stay on them for a prompt response,” Wood said. “These are the same people (HPG) that are doing our sewer line input, so they want the job. Even if there is a slight delay, I think they’d be good.”
Council also approved a $15,000 capital expense request from the water plant to clean the recycle basin. The expense was recommended by the finance committee. Those funds were previously earmarked in the FY 2017-2018 budget, under Recycle Basin/Pulsator Clarifier Cleaning.
Town Council and the finance committee approved $36,738.80 for the purchase a new brush chipper requested by the Town of Winnsboro electric department. The department’s former brush chipper had been in commission 20 years.
William Medlin and the electric department recommended a Morbark M12RX, because of service availability in Columbia as opposed to a Vermeer, which only has service availability in the Charlotte area. Council and the Finance committee turned down alternate bids of $45,386.78, $41,231.00 and a Vermeer for $34,746.00.
Brush Chippers assist in about 60 percent of the electric department’s duties, according William Medlin.
