As with anything these days, construction costs have been climbing. Not only are material and labor costs up, contractors have no shortage of work, which means government projects don’t get many bidders. 

The Powell City Council approved three bids for roadwork in town, totaling $386,000. One of the projects had more than one bidder, which helped keep the project cost well under budget. 

Wild West Construction out of Cody was the sole bidder on a chip seal contract. Chip seal is a form of pavement surface treatment. It can rehabilitate a road, but it only goes so far before more extensive repairs are needed. 

Wild West bid $4 per square yard, which will bring the total costs to an estimated $92,000. The city had budgeted $80,000. Final costs will depend on how much chip seal the city decides to put down in the coming year. 

The expectation is that the treatment will be applied to the northern portion of Panther Boulevard in the northeast part of town. 

Under an agreement with Park County concerning roads that border the edge of town, the city takes care of maintenance on the road going to Powell High School, while the county is responsible for Tower Boulevard on the west side. 

Councilor Geoff Hovivian raised concerns about using chip seal treatments rather than doing more extensive repairs to Panther Boulevard. Hovivian said he gets more complaints about the condition of that road than any other in town. 

He asked about the possibility of forming a partnership with the county to do a more complete repair. 

“That road gets used heavily by school buses and everything else,” Hovivian said. 

City Administrator Zack Thorington agreed the road needs more attention and could use widening too. 

Another contract for asphalt services also received only one bidder. Quality Asphalt Paving Inc. out of Cody bid $120 per ton for the contract, which was up $15 per ton over last year’s bid. The total contract is for $36,000 in work. Despite the increase over last year, the bid came in under the $37,500 the city had budgeted for the project. 

Thorington attributed the cost savings to Streets Superintendent Andy Metzler, saying he “did his homework” and provided information to the company on the city’s needs. 

For slurry seal projects, the city received two bids. Slurry seal is another type of road maintenance, like chip seal. Slurry seal applies a thin layer of asphalt over the top of the road. 

Intermountain Slurry Seal Inc. out of Utah, bid $2.15 per square yard for the contract, which beat out Asphalt Preservation, also out of Utah. Asphalt Preservation bid $2.44 per square yard. 

Both companies had bid last year on the contract, but Asphalt Preservation had the lowest bid. Intermountain’s bid was only slightly over its bid last year of $2.107. 

The city had budgeted $320,000 for slurry seal, but Intermountain’s contract comes in at $258,000. 

“We’re quite a bit under,” Thorington noted, adding that competitive bids bring project costs down.