A bid for the Maumee and Erney streets storm sewer construction project in Salisbury Township has been tabled.

Township commissioners voted unanimously 5 - 0 at the July 24 township meeting to table the bid, pending review by Salisbury Township Consulting Engineer David J. Tettemer of Keystone Consulting Engineers, Inc.

Commissioner Joanne Ackerman made the motion to bring the agenda item to a vote. Commissioner Vice President Debra Brinton seconded the motion.

The apparent low bid was $238,397, with an alternate bid No. 1 of $23,996 and an alternative bid No. 2 of $77,644 by Joao & Bradley Construction Co., Inc., Bethlehem.

The other bid was $398,861.75, with an alternate bid No. 1 of $44,301.50 and an alternative bid No. 2 of $141,099.25 by Nimaris Construction LP, Bath.

"You'll notice that there's a significant difference," Tettemer said of the two bids. "The low bid's more in line with the project.

"They've [Bradley] done a number of projects for the township and we've always been satisfied," Tettemer said.

Salisbury Township Director of Public Works John Andreas and Salisbury Township Solicitor Atty. John W. Ashley will also review the bid.

Tettemer is expected to have a bid recommendation at the next township meeting, 7 p.m. Aug. 14, Salisbury Township Municipal Building, 2900 S. Pike Ave.

Three other firms that requested bid information did not submit bids. The bids were received July 23 and opened July 24.

The project is to be completed by year's end, according to Salisbury Township Manager Randy Soriano.

Commissioners voted 5 - 0 to approve the transfer of $5,000 from the township unrestricted fund balance to the line item maintenance fund to facilitate repairs to the municipal building HVAC. Brinton made the motion and Commissioner James Seagreaves seconded it.

The air-conditioning ceased operating weekends in the finance department office.

"The temperature in that room increases tremendously, and we have two [computer] servers in that room," Soriano said.

"That needs to be cool. We had a couple of server incidences," Soriano said.

"We feel that this cannot wait," Soriano emphasized to commissioners prior to the vote.

Ackerman urged work estimates be obtained from several firms. Commissioner Robert Martucci, Jr. agreed. Soriano said he would do so.

In other business, Soriano said it appears the township may not qualify for a Lehigh County Department of Community Economic Development Community Block Development Grant.

That is because a calculation determined 2012 data states 50.8 percent of the township area where the project is to be done is of lower to moderate income.

The $346,750 South Potomac Street Water Line Replacement Project is to replace about 3,500 feet of a 64-year-old cast iron pipe believed to have been installed in 1950 with PVC pipe.

Township commissioners voted April 10 to authorize Soriano to apply by the April 14 deadline for the grant from Lehigh County.

Soriano said at the April 10 meeting in the South Potomac Street area, 44.8 percent of the residents are of low to moderate income.

The CBDG program is for areas where 48 percent of the residents are of lower to moderate income.

Soriano said the grant required current data be submitted in the application, which township officials did.

"We technically would not get the grant," Soriano said. "We have to go to HUD [United States Department of Housing and Urban Development] and see what happened."

The township was to pay 10 percent of the cost, or about $34,000, with Lehigh County paying about $312,000 of the project.

The South Potomac Water Line project is part of the township 10-year plan for capital improvements, according to Andreas.

The East Susquehanna Street to East Emmaus Avenue project was to begin January 2015.

Township commissioners voted 5-0 at the July 10 meeting to award the bid for the 2014 Phase II Sanitary Sewer Rehab Project to Tri-State Grouting, LLC, Newark, N.J., the apparent lower bidder at $130,630. Martucci made the motion. Seagreaves seconded it.

One other bid for $157,777.50 was received from Video Pipe Services, Inc., Newfield, N.J., Three other firms requested bid information, but did not submit bids.

"The project involves the chemical grouting of various manholes, and cured-in-place lining spot repairs and pressure testing-grouting of various segments of the township's sanitary sewer system," Tettemer said in his July 8 bid review recommendation letter.

Tettemer told commissioners July 10, "We were kind of time-driven because of the EPA order. We have to have this done by the end of the year. Plus, we have to do some metering."

The work is required to comply with a United States Environmental Protection Agency order. Salisbury is one of the municipalities named in the EPA order issued in 2009. The end of this year is the deadline for the order to be met.

Discharges of raw sewage into the Lehigh River, Little Lehigh Creek, Cedar Creek and Jordan Creek, which have happened since 2003, violate the federal Clean Water Act.

The entities named in the EPA order use Allentown's Kline's Island Sewage Treatment Plant, operated since August 2013 by the Lehigh County Authority.