Steele City Looks For Bids On New Water Mains“As Soon As Possible”

By Gordon HopkinsPlan for new water mains in Steele City are nearing completion and will soon be ready for bids.The Village Board of Steele City held a special meeting on March 17, 2025, to discuss the project.Dana Peterson of Frontwater Engineering, indicated drawings for the new Steele City water mains are more than 80 percent completed. The next step is to go out for bids, which will have to be obtained before the true cost of the project can be known.Peterson said, “I’d like to bid it as soon as possible.”The project was first begun five years ago but those mains have never been put into full time use due to leaks. This project intends to replace those pipes.“What was done before didn’t work and wasn’t acceptable,” Peterson explained. “It didn’t pass a pressure test, among maybe other things, but it didn’t pass best specifications. So, the new project is basically a replacement of that same concept, generally the same vicinity. It’s going to be on the same side (north) of the highway.”“So, back in November, the board, at the time, retained Frontwater to design the new basically a replacement water transmission main from Endicott to Steel City. And so prior to that, the village was working with the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy (NDEE) to secure funding for that replacement project,” said Peterson. The previous project was made of three-inch pipe. The replacement project will four-inch PVC pipe. The mains will consist of approximately five-and-a-half miles of pipe, or 28,000 feet.Regarding funding, Peterson said, “You had USDA funding for a portion of your project previously, and then I think there was some State Revolving Fund also.”“So, you have $1.21 million that’s the whole project, permitting, engineering, state fees, all of that stuff, plus construction,” said Peterson. “I’m hopeful that this is enough money to do this. I don’t have a good gauge of you know, the bidding environment.” However, Peterson again emphasized that the actual cost will not be known until bids are received, “That’s the hinge point, basically. What do we think the project will cost?”The project was previously approved, so no action was taken at the meeting.

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