MONROE - It might have been a long time in coming for some, but Monroe most likely will get its general contractor for the downtown Square multi-million dollar reconstruction project at tonight's meeting of the Monroe City Council.
The city's Board of Public Works voted Monday to recommend E & N Hughes Company, Inc., of Monroe for the $2.9 million project.
Fehr-Graham and Associates, the engineering firm hired to oversee the project, recommended hiring the company; E & N Hughes also was the lowest bidder.
If approved by the council Tuesday, E & N Hughes will start work on the northeast corner of the Square in about mid- to late-May and expects to be finished by Nov. 15, according to company representatives.
Four other bids were submitted for the project. The other three bids totaled $5 million, $4.2 million and $3.3 million.
The contract will give E & N Hughes the second and third portions of the significant overhaul of the heart of the city's historical district. The project includes a new replacement of streets and sidewalks on all four sides of the Square, while replacing portions of the side streets off the Square.
E & N Hughes also won the contract for the preliminary project - replacing the water main around the Square. The company came in about $3,000 under the $184,000 budget, even after an added $6,000 change order for hydrants on the Square's inner ring.
"It was a job well done on the Square," Alderman Charles Schuringa, chairing the board meeting Monday. "I'm please we're dealing with them."
He described the company's approach to the water main work as "It's done, we're out and we don't (need to) come back."
Schuringa noted that all but one of the subcontractors Hughes intends to use are local companies.
"The money stays here in town for the benefit of all of us," he said.
The city's Board of Public Works voted Monday to recommend E & N Hughes Company, Inc., of Monroe for the $2.9 million project.
Fehr-Graham and Associates, the engineering firm hired to oversee the project, recommended hiring the company; E & N Hughes also was the lowest bidder.
If approved by the council Tuesday, E & N Hughes will start work on the northeast corner of the Square in about mid- to late-May and expects to be finished by Nov. 15, according to company representatives.
Four other bids were submitted for the project. The other three bids totaled $5 million, $4.2 million and $3.3 million.
The contract will give E & N Hughes the second and third portions of the significant overhaul of the heart of the city's historical district. The project includes a new replacement of streets and sidewalks on all four sides of the Square, while replacing portions of the side streets off the Square.
E & N Hughes also won the contract for the preliminary project - replacing the water main around the Square. The company came in about $3,000 under the $184,000 budget, even after an added $6,000 change order for hydrants on the Square's inner ring.
"It was a job well done on the Square," Alderman Charles Schuringa, chairing the board meeting Monday. "I'm please we're dealing with them."
He described the company's approach to the water main work as "It's done, we're out and we don't (need to) come back."
Schuringa noted that all but one of the subcontractors Hughes intends to use are local companies.
"The money stays here in town for the benefit of all of us," he said.