The Perry City Council recently awarded bids for two different projects that will be completed this year.

The first was for the Willis Avenue bridge over Frog Creek. The City received six bids for the work, the lowest being from the Elder Corporation of Des Moines for $735,500. The project will be 80% funded by the Department of Transportation. The project cost is around $180,000 higher than the estimate, so the DoT has allocated additional funds. Construction will be commencing soon, and City Administrator Sven Peterson says they will keep residents informed. “We’ll be reaching out to the very adjacent property owners as well as putting up some signs. Just giving a little warning about when the project is going to be happening, because that does mean Willis Avenue will be closed for a few months there. So hopefully it doesn’t cause too much inconvenience, but we’ll have detours posted and hopefully get people around that safe and efficiently.”

The second bid accepted was for the sanitary sewer improvement project that will extend service on 16th street past the Forest Park Museum. Initially the Council felt the bids were too high, but the necessity of getting sewer service to a homeowner before January added more urgency to accepting the bid. The project was awarded to EJM Pipe Services for $457,255, though Peterson says the company is reliable and the price isn’t necessarily set in stone. “There’s still probably some change orders in there that we can do, once we notify the contractor. We’ll be able to work with that contractor. From what we understand, they’re very accommodating and easy to work with.”

The sewer improvement project will likely be completed by the second week of November.