Hennessey town trustees were told “it’s going to be tight” if the waterline replacement work next to the school complex on Mitchell Road is finished before the start of school.

That’s what Tiffany Tillman, town administrator, told them at their monthly meeting last week.

The town’s project will replace six-inch waterlines with eight-inch lines on the west side of Mitchell Road in front of the Early Childhood, elementary and middle schools. New waterlines lines will run from Iowa Street south to Oklahoma Avenue.

The Contractor

“We’re going to do everything we can to make sure we get the work done before school starts,” Kris Goff told the KT&FP Sunday evening. Goff is the sole owner of Grade Work Construction LLC, the company that won the bid on the project.

Goff also said he’d have a pre-construction meeting with the town’s engineers next week.

The contract calls for work to start by July 15, he said, and as soon as they finish with another big project, they’ll be in Hennessey.

( Note: If that Goff name sounds familiar, then it should, because he has family who lives in Hennessey, although he lives in the Edmond area.)

The Bidding

Goff’s company “was the second lowest base bidder” at $190,212 and Project Manager Brian Schwegal of Cowan Group Engineering recommended in a letter that the board accept it.

There were eight bidders.

“This bid came in under- budget,” Tillman told trustees with a smile before they quickly and unanimously accepted Goff’s bid during their Tuesday, June 11, meeting.

The town received a $160,000 matching REAP grant through NODA earlier this year for this project.

“We can use the grant money first, then our money,” Tillman said.

In addition to the larger water lines, the grant also includes the addition of a fire hydrant and valve on the northwest corner of West 5th and Dunlap streets.

The Need

Trustee Bert Gritz, who’d recently retired as fire chief, suggested the need for that particular fire hydrant during earlier discussions about possible grant projects.

He also said larger water lines in that area would help firefighters to help homeowners and the school in that area.

“The school wants to put in angle parking on the west side of Mitchell Road by cementing over the utility ditches in front of the elementary school to the south,” Gritz said.

That cost isn’t feasible for them if they had to move the town’s water lines so “this could be a win-win for both of us.”

At the Meeting

All Trustees were at the meeting: Mayor Clif Vogt, Vice Mayor Harold Shaw, Gritz, David Jones and Randy Bohnstedt.

This was Vogt’s last meeting as a town board member because he and his wife, Karen, are moving to Arkansas to be closer to grandchildren.

His resignation is effective June 30.

Trustees are expected to elect a new mayor at next month’s July 9 meeting.

Also present were town officers Kelley Vaverka, clerk, and Shelley Burch, treasurer; staffers Tillman and Jared Harrison, town attorney. In addition to Harrison, also in the audience was Frank Patton.

( Note: Read about discussion about appointing Vogt’s replacement, the budget and more in upcoming issues.)