The Hammond City Board opened three bids on May 8 for repaving work on the Erie Lackawanna Trail and directed staff to send the submissions to the city consultant for review and a recommendation.

Bidders and the amounts read into the record were: Reath Riley (Gary, Indiana) — $1,081,454.40 (transcript read as a combined total); Site Services (Hammond, Indiana) — $997,250; and Milestone Contractors LP (Griffith, Indiana) — base bid $561,845 with alternate No. 1 for $365,948.88. City staff said some bids included base and alternate line items and that the earlier read totals may have been combined; staff asked that the consultant read base-bid amounts and tabulate consistently.

Evan Laviolette of First Group Engineering was present in the meeting and the board directed the consultant to review, tabulate and make a recommendation to the board based on engineering review and available funding. A board member moved to refer the bids to the consultant and another board member concurred.

No award was made at the meeting; the action recorded was a referral to the consultant for bid tabulation and recommendation, and any final award will follow the consultant’s recommendation and review of funding availability.