By Tim Robison
Moapa Valley Progress
The Board of Directors of the Moapa Valley Water District met on Wednesday, February 13, and approved the awarding of new arsenic treatment facilities to Wiser Construction. The award was conditioned upon approval of the funding agencies. The measure passed unanimously.
On January 22, 2001, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) adopted a new standard for arsenic in drinking water. The rule became effective on February 22, 2002. The date by which systems were to comply with the new standard was January 23, 2006; the Nevada State Environmental Commission gave the Moapa Valley District and several Districts around the state a three-year extension. This extension was due to the size of the various service areas. The new date of compliance is January 23, 2009.
Brad Huza, General Manager for the District explained that the district received four bids for the project and that Wiser was the lowest bid at $4,646,997. Huza also reported that auditors considered this as the best responsible bid considering Wiser had no formal complaints and enjoyed a strong reputation.
Wiser Construction is a local construction company that won the contract from the County to build the Muddy River Bridge. According to county officials, Wiser is one of the best construction companies the county works with. Les Henley, Deputy Director of Clark County Public Works said of the company, “I wish all the counties construction projects were moving along as smoothly as the bridge at Gubler Avenue, they do good work and they get it done on time.”
The Board asked questions regarding the District engineer’s report on the Wiser bid and felt comfortable with the reputation of the company. Members expressed their belief that it was a good bid and were happy with the fact that Wiser is a local company.
