Senior center septic system bid awarded

 The Cheboygan County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to award the bid for the Sand Road Senior Center septic system to E.F. Wilkinson and Sons of Cheboygan in the amount of $50,383. Because the project was more than $50,000, the contract must include a performance and payment bond, which is an additional $2,520. This brings the total amount funded by the senior millage monies to $52,383. “We did place this out for bids. We received eight proposals. The low bid was E.F. Wilkinson and Son with the bond that we had to add in because it went above $50,000,” said Cheboygan County Administrator Jeff Lawson. Due to time sensitivity, to get the project moving forward according to schedule, the proposal was brought before the Cheboygan County Board of Commissioners at its May 26 meeting for approval. The contracting company planned to start construction on the project the first week of June. The payment and performance bond is standard for this type of project and typically lasts for one year from the time the contract is approved. In the contract, the language specifies the timeline that the county would like the project to adhere to, which calls for work to be substantially completed 45 days after the start of construction. There were some concerns expressed at previous commissioner meetings about whether the septic system that would be installed at the senior center would be a pressurized system, which cost more and requires more long-term maintenance. “It’s not that. This is a gravity system,” said Cheboygan County Commission Chair Pete Redmond. The new system that will be installed at the senior center is similar to the one currently at that location. However, it will have a four-inch wide pipe running to the septic tank, which will help to cut down on the chances of the system clogging, as it does now. Funds for the septic system will taken from the senior millage monies that have been collected. Although the project will cause a deficit in those monies for this current year’s budget, funds collected in prior years that have been carried over will help cover the deficit. The original system at the Sand Road Senior Center was installed 30 years ago by E.F. Wilkinson and Sons. The system needed to be replaced due to its age and because part of the system was failing. One of the comments that the former senior center director had made about the septic system was that some of the problems were related to the use of antibiotics and other medications by so many of the people who are using the facilities there. It is expected that replacing the system should help alleviate these issues.