Marion awards site contract for water treatment plant
May 23—After more than 18 months of planning, the town of Marion is moving forward with a project to build a new water treatment plant after the Board of Aldermen voted Tuesday to award a contract to ready the site for future construction.
The site grading and clearing contract was awarded to Davidson Hauling & Construction in the amount of $43,767.
Town Engineer Shaun Miles said Davidson was the second lowest bidder, but the town was unable to accept the lowest bid of $39,906 by McDevitt Enterprise LLC due to issues with the bid paperwork.
"The issue that we have is that McDevitt Enterprise, instead of providing a bid bond or certified check for the bid bond amount, they wrote a personal check for the bid bond amount which is not acceptable," he said.
Bid bonds are funds pledged ahead of a project as a way to guarantee a town or city is protected in the event a contractor runs over the cost of a project or isn't able to complete the work, according to JW Surety Bonds, a bonding and insurance company. The town can file a claim against the contractor's bid bond to recoup those expenses, the company states on its website.
Town attorney Dustin Markham said aldermen need to have proof the bond funds are there before the bid can be accepted, which isn't immediately possible with a personal check. To resolve the issue, he said, the board could choose to either have Miles contact McDevitt to see if the contractor is willing to resolve the issues or move on to the second lowest bidder, which was Davidson.
Alderman Tammy Young said she supported awarding the contract to Davidson Hauling & Construction. Davidson is a local contractor with a reputation for quality work, she said.
"We know them, and we don't have any issues at all with them," she said.
Alderman Norman Coleman said he also supported awarding the contract to Davidson as, he said, the project has already waited long enough.
The new water treatment plant, which is set to be built near the Pleasant Acres subdivision, is intended to both add redundancy to the town's freshwater system and expand its capacity. Marion residents and businesses are currently supplied by a single treatment plant.
Andrew Bateman, who oversees the town's water department, has previously explained the town's current demand for freshwater is near the maximum of what the existing treatment plant can produce. As the town adds new homes and businesses, the need for clean water will only increase, he said.
Having a second treatment plant will also provide a backup source for clean water in the event one of the plants is taken offline, Bateman said.
Marion was awarded a $3.4 million grant through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in September 2022 to fund the new water treatment plant's construction. The project, however, has been delayed as environmental studies were conducted to make sure the plant would not have an adverse impact on local wildlife.
Miles said he will reach out the Davidson to let them know the board's decision, and residents will hopefully see work begin at the site within the next few weeks.
Stennis Institute
In other business, aldermen approved an agreement with the John C. Stennis Institute of Government and Community Development at Mississippi State University to perform an analysis of the town's employees and positions.
Mayor Larry Gill said the study will look at the town's job descriptions for full and part-time employees to see if adjustments need to be made, make updates to the employee handbook and gather data from municipalities similar to Marion to help aldermen know if the town is being competitive in its benefits or if changes need to be made. The city of Meridian had a similar study performed by the Stennis Institute in 2023.
The cost for the study is $1,200, Gill said. Researchers are set to begin the analysis in August.
Contact Thomas Howard at thoward@themeridianstar.com
