Contract Awarded for Milford Water Company Plant; Work to Trigger Rate Increase

The Milford Water Co. announced Friday it has awarded a contract for construction of a to the lowest bidder, R.H. White Construction.  The private utility company also disclosed the construction will require a rate increase for customers.

The winning bid was more than $1 million less than the next lowest bid, said David Condrey, general manager for the Water Co. The exact amount of the contract was not disclosed by the company. The bid range, Condrey said earlier this month, was a low of $16.8 million to a high of $17.9 million.

hat submitted bids were Barletta Engineering Co. and Methuen Construction Co.

The new water treatment plant is expected to be operational by spring of 2013. The construction will trigger , according to Condrey's statement.

"This much needed improvement, however, does come with a cost and the Company will need to request a rate increase later this year that will go into effect during the summer of 2013," Condrey wrote, in an announcement. "The Company will be working to do everything in its control to minimize the amount of that increase and feels very strongly that the benefits to our customers from the new plant justifies the need for the water treatment facility."

The Water Company last had a rate increase last year, a 33 percent increase.