The lowest bidder for Coplay’s Front Street project was a surprise to the Coplay-Whitehall Sewer Authority board.

At its session Aug. 18, the board announced the lowest bidder as Ankiewicz Enterprises Inc. The winning bid of $273,440 was well below the estimated cost of $370,000.

The bid was handled by PennBid, a computerized system that allowed board members to look at a comparison of line items submitted for each bidder. The biggest savings for Ankiewicz was in the material cost for the pipe.

Board member Paul Geissinger Jr. asked the engineer to check the bid to ensure that all specifications are met.

“That is part of the routine process that we always take,” said Darryl Jenkins, CWSA’s engineer. “In this case, because there is such a large discrepancy between the bidders, we will talk with [Ankiewicz] to make sure they understood the scope of the project and the requirements.”

The low bid comes on the heels of a bid received by Coplay Borough that was $100,000 higher than the estimated bid. The borough is responsible for the north end of the street, and CWSA will improve the sewer and repave the south end of the street. The board authorized the engineer and the attorney to approve the bid if it met all the requirements and the bidder understood the project scope.

General Manager David Harleman announced PIM Corporation as the low bidder for a manhole re-line project. According to Harleman, the project is on a unit price basis. Given the parameters of the contract, the bid amount was $46,610.

“We can add to the contract based on the unit pricing we have,” he said.

The re-line project is a way for CWSA to reduce water infiltration into the sewer lines. Older manholes were made of brick and water seeps into the sewer. Reducing clear water infiltration is CWSA’s goal. The authority and all municipal authorities that send wastewater to the Allentown Treatment Plant are under an EPA mandate to reduce clear water infiltration.

CWSA Chairman John Schreiner addressed a printed article indicating CWSA is intending to raise sewer rates because of the EPA mandate.

“There was some report about the [Lehigh County Authority] raising rates in the western half of the county, but we should not be affected,” he said.

“The CWSA is in excellent shape, and we are doing very well in appropriately using our resources. We have a long-term contract with LCA on the cost of wastewater treatment. We are well-positioned to meet the requirements of the EPA mandate,” he said.

“We see no reason that we are looking to increase our rates,” Schreiner said.