Minden awards pipeline bid

The low bidder for a pipeline between Minden and a proposed tank in the East Valley came in at nearly a third less than estimates.

This morning the Minden Town Board approved awarding a contract to V&C Construction for $772,729 to install more than two miles of 30-inch pipeline between the tank and the town.

Town Engineer Bruce Scott said there were 11 bids, and V&C came in $137,074 lower than the next lowest bidder.

A Gardnerville company, Scott said V&C said they wanted to make sure they won the bid for a local job.

"They wanted it because it's in their back yard and because they need the work," he said.

V&C has material stockpiled at a Minden construction site, which should save them money on backfill, Scott said.

The town purchased the pipeline from Ferguson Waterworks on May 5.

Scott said work should begin on the pipeline in August. Workers will start at the tank site, located near Amber Way and Coyote Road and make their way west toward Minden down Buckeye Road to Orchard.

Minden received a $5 million payment from Carson City on July 15. That's half of the $10 million in water rights the capital is purchasing from the town. Scott said the town was waiting until the money arrived before awarding the pipeline contract.

Between the materials and labor, the pipeline project will cost the town $1.9 million, well below the original $2.6 million estimate.

Scott estimated work on the tank itself would cost more than $2 million. The 2.5 gallon tank is part of the improvements Minden is installing in order to wholesale water that will supply northern Carson Valley and Carson City.

The pipeline will also provide water to Indian Hills, solving that community's arsenic issue.

The total project, including running a pipeline to Carson City and Indian Hills, the tank and booster pumps will cost $21 million.

Estimates are that water will be available to Indian Hills and Carson City by next spring.