http://www.kalispellbypass.com/index.cfm

I do not understand this story. “The contract is for the first 1.54-mile segment of the southern section of the bypass, which will run from U.S. Highway 2 to Airport Road. The second segment, which will connect U.S. Highway 2 back to U.S. Highway 93.”

Can someone please explain this poorly-written description? Does U.S. 2 connect with Airport road somewhere? Where will this first section be? The part about connecting U.S. 2 back to U.S. 93 baffles me. Where does that happen? Is she talking about Main and Idaho?

I apologize for not keeping up with the by-pass design. This story didn’t help. Probably just my limited reading comprehension.

The State estimated 16 million and the low bidder is at 12.

Thats some big savings! 

Over 4 muh muh muh million bucks!

Maybe they will send a couple of guys and backhoe and take 10 years to complete it?

Well…....$12.6 million for less than 2 miles of road work…..seems like somehthing is amiss for sure. Must include some property buying that is quite a bit high. I mean….come on folks…..that is a ton of $$$ for such a short length of road work. And, the out of staters working on the project will bring campers….not stay in local motels…..get real.

A local campground charges about $350 a month for full hookups…...why pay a motel that for a week? Plus, some will I am sure stay on the construction site as well.

Speaking of out of staters working here…...look around at the New Wal-Mart parking lot & the Sub-Station on Whitefish Road…...check out the OUT OF STATE…....license plates at those sites…....????

Used to be, had to buy local plates if you were working here more than 30 days?? Who knows what kind of other “people” will come with the Utah company ??? Big City wacko’s.

I feel stimulated over this, it just gives me goosebumps that all that money will be flowing over me any second. I had said all along that the contracts would be awarded to an out of state bidder with the money going out of state. Give me a break and give Montanan’s a job.

So if you knew all along that the local contractors were going to overbid the project…

                WHY didn’t you let them know?!

Well if all the bids that were accepted were in state contractors maybe just maybe one of them would have been accepted.
When I bid on Jobs and all bids came in over the projected cost there would be an evaluation and the job re-let out for new bid. So there Mr Smarty pants

Vud I thought the stimulus was to help affected areas not be bundled up for being sent out of the areas that it was designed to help.

So I guess what your saying is that bids should have been restricted to in-state bidders only?

Look.  Some of these companies were bidding a project in their ‘own back yard’.  They know local conditions better than out of state contractors I would guess.  They certainly would have had less overhead costs (hotels, food, transportation).

Now maybe, the Utah outfit has economies of scale working for them that allows better pricing of certain materials and more bargaining power with subcontractors, I don’t know.

Sure its a dissappointment that a more local compay didn’t win the bid.  But your proposal of less-competition-is-better is not the answer. We all want the stimulus dollars to be well spent right?

PS.  I’m not wearing pants at the moment.

Utah already has received 1.5 billion compared to Montana’s 870 million. So you are saying Montanan"s do not need anymore stimulus of course bids come in high if they are all over make them re bid simple happens all the time.

See Kok:

Now it’s the ‘illegal others’ that are responsible for the bid process working the way it was intended.

(I kinda thought the money would stay in state too…We’ve obviously been proven wrong on that score as stated in the story…low bidder)

huh?

The state engineer estimated that this section of the route would cost more than $16 million to construct. Ames Construction, however, said it could do the job for around $12.5 million, the lowest of the seven companies that sought the contract.

The second-lowest bid came from Kalispell-based Nelcon Inc., at $12.9 million. Other bidders included Riverside Contracting, Inc. from Missoula, which bid $13.68 million; Columbia Falls-based Schellinger Construction Co. Inc., bidding $13.73 million; Knife River of Kalispell, bidding $16.3 million; MA Deatley Construction of Washington, which bid over $16.4 million and Kalispell-based LHC Inc., who rounded out the bidding with $16.94 million.

Lynch said he could understand local grumblings about an out-of-state company winning the contract, but said the commission must choose the lowest bid to protect taxpayers

OK,,,,,,new roads to Wal-Mart is all this is….and with the terrible traffice out in US 93 North…......NOW. All this is going to do is make the area like Post Falls strip malls….one fricking zoo.
And, seeing the the MDT can’t take care of existing roads or even do repairs descently…....how can they take care of the new BYPASS…......???

Heck…...US 2 just past Badrock Overhang….....in the East bound lane…...has some terrible zig zag cracks in the pavement…...which are going to break up real bad come this winter…....a blind man can see the bad cracks in the roadway….and yet NO ONE….from MDT has done squat…..SO HOW IS THE BYPASS GOING TO DO ANYTHING EXCEPT MAKE OTHER ROADS…...GO WITHOUT SOME KIND OF REPAIR JOB…....THAT HAS QUALITY STANDARDS FROM THE 1950’S ?????

Trying to follow the comments here, but I won’t be comfortable until Vud puts on some pants.

Pants are firmly in place now.  Sorry for the lap’se.

Hotfishmt:  Good points.

Not only are Maintenance and Repair issues critical to the process AFTER the project is completed; they are probably more critical DURING the project.  Especially when a low-bid scenario figures so prominently in the award of contract.

There is no reason to believe that Ames does not do quality workand I assume that the state contracts and inspections will ensure a quality bypass.

Vud glad your pants are on(bad mental picture)
I do not disagree about competition of bidding contracts it still was wrong to let this for bid to out of state contractors when the whole thing is to help stimulate our economy in Montana. I have been out of work for about 18 months I have applied for every job that is in my scope. The response is not bright generally 150-200 applicants for every position. So right now every job helps this valley. Do you not agree?

Thanks BTW, They can and do limit bidders to certain projects they can also stipulate percentages of local peoples to hire. Seen that done as well.

Kokanee:

I DO see your point.  It would have bee GREAT to have had an in-state contractor win the bid.  No doubt about it.

I just keep coming back to the line:

“the commission must choose the lowest bid to protect taxpayers”

From my understanding it’s the use of federal money that made this an issue.  In other words, Utahn’s are also helping to fund this project which Kalispell will almost exclusively benefit from when completed.

I just think the bidding process used was the fairest way to handle it when federal money is involved.

An off topic aside:

Yeah, the economy WAY SUX.  And you’re right, it’s not just a republican OR a Democrat problem it’s an AMERICAN problem.

If we get out of this with only the pain felt so far we’ll be lucky indeed. IMO.

Americans have been on a national and personal spending (borrowing) spree for 30 years.  The bill has come due..and this economy is part of that payment.

Good luck in your job search.  I’ve been in your boat several times in the past (it’s not the first reccession after all-just the worst) and survived.  That application cycle can be depressing!
So treat yourself to a simple pleasure now and again…it helps.

Spend little and save much and make careful and prudent investments along the way…it doesn’t guarantee anything but it does tip the odds in your favor over a lifetime.

Ay Caramba !

Support much appreciated !! Investments,Retirement,Personal belongings all have gone away lost everything. Pessimism is rampant along with my temper I do not mean to lash out at anyone but my patience and diplomacy have waned.
Littlehawk: What are you trying to say, yes we have an immigration problem. As far as I know federal jobs are usually not where you will find illegals.

Moderator:

Please consider inserting a memo saying something like “Comments have been removed”.

...as my ‘pants comment’ already has me looking loopy enough !

hahaha Thanks Vud for the laugh.  I had no idea what prompted the remark, but it didn’t matter because it was funny, and made for a funny mental picture.  Thanks Vud and kalispelling bee for the smile.  Most of these posts are so full of gloom and doom and seem to be written by very unhappy and sometimes demented people.  It’s great when out of all the rubbish comes a laugh. 

LH12:  Prove it.  Where’s your evidence?  Got a copy of their employee database?  Got links to any articles about Ames?

Speculation about illegal immigrants is not the problem with your posts. The derogatory comments you include with each post is what gets them deleted.

An above comment was taken down because there is no way we can quickly verify its numerous accusations.

@KN.Call them yourself and ask them.

littlehawk12 must have been kicked out and has become lh123.  Clever. 

The burden of proof is on you lh123.  If you’re gonna make serious allegations about this company, you better be able to back it up with verifiable proof.

Otherwise, you’re a liar.

I do not want to cause this thread or any more comments to be deleted but I just called my pop in Utah. What has been called hearsay aligns with what my father said. No defense or offense intended.

They are not overly sensitive just not open to a bunch of posts that are hearsay,off subject or just plain offensive it is not our personal sounding board so we follow the rules.

21@12:  “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.”  http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Daniel_Patrick_Moynihan

If you can’t prove what you claim to be fact, then you are engaging in libel, slander, rumor, innuendo, lying…or some combination thereof.

yup pussycat, there goes the gloom and doom thing.

First order of business repairing the damage Obama and the Left has done to the USA; tear down their “recovery and reinvestment” signs around the valley.

Happy Thanksgiving Roark.  I hope this holiday brings you some small amount of joy.  If not, oh well…....there’s drugs for your depression.

Roark:

Now THAT’S a “constructive” solution !  HA.

Tearing down an ugly symbol of oppression is always constructive. The Founding Fathers did it. The Union did it during the Civil War. The US military did it to the Nazi’s. The Russians did it to Lenin. It is an act of assertion of individual rights, of freedom that will not be denied. Therefore, it is constructive in that it sends a message to the tyrants; Liberty will not be mocked or spat upon by the likes of you who would bind us all to your chains of altruism and statism.

Hey, Let’s get some bids on moving the City Airport just east of town. Give the locals another chance and getting some bids in. There will be options of building more hotels, resturants, plus all the new development of the old airport land. Come to the meeting Monday and promote this plan. Builders, Delvelopers, get involved, there’s some good options for growth and work. Support the relocation of the airport.