By Mark Wineka
mwineka@salisburypost.com
That’s a lot of chemicals.
Salisbury City Council approved the $238,000 purchase Tuesday of 700 tons of chemicals used in the city’s water treatment process.
Kemira Chemical Corp. will provide 700 tons of PAX XLS (poly aluminum chloride) at a cost of 17 cents a pound.
Jim Behmer, director for Salisbury-Rowan Utilities, said that amount of chemicals will last about a year.
Council awarded a couple of other big contracts this week:
– Dell Computer won an $87,207 contract to furnish 114 computers to the city.
– Carolina Siteworks Inc. received a $67,087 contract to install two blocks of sidewalk on West Miller Street between North Main and Jackson streets.
Every year, the city replaces about a third of its computers.
Fortress Systems International submitted the lowest bid at $83,220, but Purchasing Manager Dewey Peck recommended the city go with the Dell bid, which included a three-year warranty covering all parts and labor.
The three-year warranty of the other bidders covered only the parts.
The Dell bid breaks down to $764.98 per computer.
Money for the purchase comes out of the 2009-2010 Computer Replacement Fund.
The Miller Street sidewalk will be installed on the street’s south side.
The project, funded by a Fit Community Grant awarded to the city last year, attracted 10 bidders.
Next year, the city hopes to continue building pedestrian connections from the North Main Street neighborhood to the Salisbury Greenway off Mahaley Avenue by installing sidewalk on the southern end of City Park.
Eventually, the city will have a connection from the greenway, to the hospital, to Hurley Park, to City Park, to the North Main neighborhood.