A minor slip-up by a Utah contractor wound up indirectly saving the City of Powell $36,000, while causing the firm to miss out on a six-figure street maintenance job.

As part of its regular maintenance program, the city is having a contractor slurry seal 135,000 square yards of streets this summer. An initial call for bids drew offers from three companies — the most interest in decades, said City Administrator Zack Thorington.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but great, hey, more competition,” Thorington said at the Powell City Council’s June 5 meeting.

Morgan Pavement Maintenance of Clearfield, Utah, submitted the low bid in May, offering to complete the job for $308,016. However, city staff realized that the company had failed to meet one of the city’s requirements: It was not a member of the International Slurry Seal Association (ISSA).

Morgan Pavement Maintenance quickly joined the association, but because the company wasn’t a member at the time it submitted the bid, staff felt the city couldn’t accept the offer. However, the city also didn’t want to spend an extra $39,000 and accept the next-lowest bid, a $346,950 offer from Asphalt Preservation of West Haven, Utah.

Thorington recommended the council instead reject all of the bids — including a $589,950 offer from ASTECH Corp. of St. Cloud, Minnesota — and try again.

“We probably could even get lower prices,” Thorington told the council in June.

Council members unanimously agreed to issue a second call for bids and the move paid off last week.

While Morgan Pavement Maintenance resubmitted its original offer, Asphalt Preservation shaved its bid by 27%, or nearly $75,000, to undercut the competition and win the job. Asphalt Preservation’s bid of $2.015 per square yard even beat the rate it charged the city last year.

The City of Powell is now set to pay Asphalt Preservation $272,025 — about $36,000 below Morgan Pavement Maintenance’s offer, and nearly $78,000 less than what the city budgeted for the work.

“It’s quite nice to see when it comes in that far under budget,” said Councilman Steve Lensegrav.

Thorington suggested the savings could be used to fix up other streets, referring to concerns that Councilman Geoff Hovivian raised earlier in the meeting.

Hovivian voiced concern about water damage, specifically mentioning Clark Street, South Street and the “horrible intersection” at Division Street and Avenue H.

“Do we have any plans on fixing this stuff before it becomes a problem?” Hovivian asked.

“As much as we can, yes, absolutely,” Thorington responded, noting that pavement maintenance and replacement is expensive and the city’s budget is limited.

In an interview, City Streets Superintendent Andy Metzler said the extended winter, followed by an unusual amount of rain, has made for a tough year for Powell’s streets.

“The rain is just piling on the conditions we had with our long winter,” Metzler said Tuesday, adding that, “We are working our tails off trying to catch up, for sure.”

He noted that Clark Street is one of the areas that’s set to be slurry sealed this summer.

While there are trenches and potholes, Metzler said he thinks the city does a good job maintaining its streets overall, adding that past slurry sealing contractors have complimented their condition as well.

At last week’s meeting, Councilman Floyd Young offered his thanks to the streets department.

“I appreciate the way you do repair those cracks and seal them,” Young said, “because my neighborhood looks terrific.”

Slurry sealing helps extend the life of the pavement and, although it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, it’s far cheaper than replacing the asphalt. For example, Thorington said widening and fixing Division Street is a $10 million project.

Asphalt Preservation crews are set to begin the slurry sealing in early August.