The bids are in for Phase II of the Downtown sanitary sewer replacement and separation project.

Phase II technically but Phase I in fact, after the Chesterton Utility Service Board opted earlier this year to postpone until next spring the major thrust of the project: the excavation of South Calumet Road between West Indiana Ave. and the Norfolk Southern at-grade crossing.

Phase II will be pursued this year, however: the separation of a combined sanitary/stormwater sewer along the east side of South Calumet Road between Morgan Ave. and Porter Ave., and at a special meeting Monday night the Service Board opened five bids for the contract.

The bids:

*$173,342.90 from Rieth-Riley Inc. of Gary.

*$194,002.04 from G.E. Marshall Inc. of Valparaiso.

*$208,489 from de Boer Egolf Corporation of Portage.

*$241,822 from LGS Plumbing Inc. of Crown Point.

*$321,735 from Woodruff & Sons Inc. of Michigan City.

The Service Board voted 4-0 to take those bids under advisement. Member Scot McCord was not in attendance.

Town Engineer Mark O’Dell told the Chesterton Tribune after the meeting that the plan right now is for the project to be completed before school opens in August. The work will require the closure of the northbound lane of South Calumet Road between Morgan Ave. and Porter Ave. The southbound lane will remain open to local-only traffic, while through-traffic will be detoured around the work site.

All businesses will remain open during the work, O’Dell said.

Meanwhile, O’Dell announced that the Utility has awarded a contract to low bidder R.V. Sutton Inc. to connect three residences currently on septic to the sanitary sewer system.

Those residences are in the neighborhood of Woodlawn Ave. and Warren Street. R.V. Sutton’s low bid was $74,950.