Holt Sewer Expansion On Hold After Bids Come In Well Over Budget

TUSCALOOSA, AL — The Tuscaloosa County Commission on Wednesday opted against taking action on bids for some much-needed sewer improvements in Holt after inflation drove up the estimated cost well over what was initially budgeted.

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The project, formally referred to as the 2020 Holt Sanitary Sewer Expansion Project, went out for bids on Tuesday, with the estimated cost listed at $680,000.

Tuscaloosa County Attorney Robert Spence explained that while the Commission had roughly $1 million in disaster recovery funding from Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADEA) set aside to cover the project's engineering and construction, the contractor bids came in between $2.5 million and $3.2 million.

"Ultimately, I think we will have to reject these bids," Spence told the Commission Wednesday morning. "But I think before we do that, we ought to pursue with ADECA if there is [any additional funding available.]"

Spence also explained that the county had 90 days to make a decision on the bids, which could provide the timing needed to get an answer on any additional ADECA funding or other possible grants available to cover the shortfall.

The $1 million in ADECA funding is part of much larger $24 million allocation for the county awarded in early 2020 for ongoing recovery efforts following the 2011 tornado that devastated a large swath of the county.

As part of the recovery package, approximately $7 million was made available for infrastructure projects relating to water, sewer, roads and certain public facilities.

"A big part of this is still materials," Spence said of the bids. "Materials are still hard to come by, so hopefully the supply chain will improve over the next few months. But at this point, it's still a problem.

Indeed, according to the Producer Price Index (PPI) report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics earlier this year, the construction sector has faced an 8% jump in the price of building materials prices since the start of 2022.

What's more, federal inflation data shows building materials prices have increased 20.4% year over year and have risen 33% since the start of the pandemic.

"We're going to ask ADECA if there is any more money available but it's likely this will have to wait until we have other funds available through the infrastructure package that Congress just passed," Spence told Patch following the meeting, referring to $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed into law by President Joe Biden last November.

"It’s close and it’s not that complex of a project," Tuscaloosa County Probate Judge Rob Robertson added. "It’ll serve several homes. It’s engineered and it's shovel-ready, so I think we’ll have a good shot at another pot [of funding]. It’s just the timing and maybe it'll get easier to get materials … maybe ADECA will help us solve the problem."

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