News from SJC, the bridge, and City Council

Saint Joseph's College is back in the news. The Board of Trustees is being reorganized, with all the lay members quitting and three new lay members being added. Also, an entity called Fulcrum Strategic Group said that it offered the College $27 million for the campus and never got a serious response. See more here, here, and here.

The Washington Street bridge is scheduled to open Friday or perhaps Thursday. On Monday the approaches were paved and most of the railing was put into place. Here is the not-completed east side as of Monday afternoon.

 The west side was finished. It does not have the look that I expected it to have.

I asked one of the workers what still had to be done. He said that the roadway had to be sealed and the traffic lines painted.

The City Council met on Monday evening and much of the agenda was about bids. At the previous meeting bids had been opened for the street program and for a new street sweeper and those bids were given to a committee for a recommendation. The committee recommended accepting the paving bid from Walsh and Kelley for $862,196.23 even though it was about $300 above the low bid. The company did the work on Grace Street earlier this year and the City was very satisfied with their work. Two of the bids for the street sweeper did not meet all the specifications. The committee recommended and the Council accepted a bid from Brown Equipment for $195K.

Then bids were opened for connecting Well #8 (on Sparling Avenue) to the treatment plant. There were four bids ranging from $1,016,363 to $1,438,733.60. They will be evaluated by a committee and a recommendation given at the next meeting. The Electric Utility had two bids for a new bucket truck and their recommendation was to go with the one costing $213,771. The truck will not go into service until next year and financing and how to sell the existing truck are still not determined. (Tree removal companies purchase many of these used trucks.)

Finally supply bids for gasoline, diesel, and tires were opened. One of the bids no one understood. They will be evaluated and a recommendation made at the next meeting.