IRON MOUNTAIN — A contractor from Michigan’s Thumb area is the apparent low bidder on a grant-funded project to verify water service lines in Iron Mountain that contain lead.

MEC Underground Solutions of Fairgrove submitted a proposal of $468,515, the lowest among seven bids opened at Monday’s city council meeting. A $595,604 grant has been awarded through the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy with no local match required.

Bids will be reviewed by staff and Coleman Engineering of Iron Mountain before a contract is offered. As proposed, the Technical, Managerial and Financial Support for Lead Service Line Replacement grant would enable a contractor to conduct field verification for about 785 service lines. The city, however, might be able to have more lines verified because MEC’s cost is well below the grant amount.

The process for identifying or verifying lead service lines includes hydrovacing on either side of each curb stop and performing in-building investigation to document service line materials. Hydrovacing involve using high-pressure water to cut and liquefy the soil while simultaneously using a vacuum to remove the soil from the excavation.

According to City Manager Jordan Stanchina, tests will be done where lead is suspected but not confirmed or where the service line material is unknown but likely contains lead. The project would also include restoration to original condition of hydrovaced locations.

Michigan’s TMF grant program is meant to help communities take advantage of federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law dollars for lead line replacement, which are available through fiscal year 2027.

In other business Monday, the council authorized using Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone PLC of Detroit as bond counsel for a $13.3 million water project set to begin in 2025. The project includes a $10.64 million loan at 2% interest from Michigan’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, plus a $2.666 million grant from the same source. The bond counsel services, which are not offered locally, will total $65,000.

Water main and service line replacements will be in the areas of West A, West Hughitt and East C streets, along with an area near Walker and Fairbanks streets. In conjunction, the city is seeking USDA Rural Development funding for $6 million in sewer line replacements.

Under a separate project, about 375 lead service lines will be replaced at homes over the next two years by Ultra Construction Services of Marquette through a $4.57 million project that started this fall. Funding is from the DWSRF, consisting of a $2.33 million loan at 2% interest, plus a $2.24 million grant.

The council Monday approved a payment to Ultra that brings the total payments to date to $481,393, or about 12% of the project.

Changes to the Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act approved in 2018 require the city to replace all galvanized water services that are considered lead lines within the next 18 years. In all, about 800 or more of the city’s lead service lines could be replaced through the combined projects. The number needing replacement was initially estimated at 1,800, but it could be considerably less based on findings so far, according to city officials.

In other action, the city council:

— Heard a report from Sarah Rice, chair of the Iron Mountain Public Arts Advisory Committee, on numerous arts initiatives that have included collaborations with the Downtown Development Authority, Bay College, the Braumart, Lake Antoine Park Partners and Maxx Entertainment. Rice also serves on the board for the Upper Peninsula Arts and Culture Alliance, which is helping plan a regional event that would come to Iron Mountain, likely in 2026.

— Learned 55 deer have been harvested through the city’s managed archery hunt that runs through Jan. 1. Fifty-six deer were culled during the 2023 hunt and the biggest harvest was 73 deer in 2015.

— Approved paying $6,353 to Gatien Farm and Forest Products LLC of Powers for wood and brush grinding at the city’s compost site.

— Will purchase for $13,345 a variable frequency drive for a city well from JMB & Associates LLC of Menomonee Falls, Wis. A previous replacement quote of $16,916 from PJ Kortens & Co. of Appleton, Wis, has been dismissed because Kortens could not do a full installation alone. The city is separately soliciting quotes for programming and installation of the drive.

Jim Anderson can be reached at 906-774-3500, ext. 226, or janderson@ironmountaindailynews.com.