Woods Cross awards $4.2 million water tank contract after low bid topped the bond estimate
Woods Cross's council awarded Patriot Construction a $4,217,641.34 contract to replace the 1500 South water tank on Aug. 6, 2026. A month earlier, the low bid of $4,827,527 exceeded the project's $4,012,236 bond estimate, and the council agreed to shift $900,000 toward the tank.
Continuing story: Auditing Woods Cross
Woods Cross's council awarded the contract to replace the city's 1500 South water tank to Patriot Construction for $4,217,641.34 on Aug. 6, 2026, according to the approved minutes. [4]
Council Member Julie Checketts moved to adopt Resolution 2026-1011 and Council Member Wally Larrabee seconded. The minutes say all members voted in favor by roll call. [4]
The rebid
The city posted a rebid of the project on June 1, 2026, with bids due June 16. The posting described a 1.8-million-gallon concrete reservoir and said the city reserved the right to negotiate with the lowest responsible bidder. [1][2]
Bid above the estimate
At the July 7 meeting, staff reviewed how the Series 2025 water bond would be spent. The minutes describe an $8,000,000 bond authorization, including a $500,000 contingency, from an Aug. 19, 2025 meeting. [3]
The minutes list the tank's bond estimate as $4,012,236 and its low bid as $4,827,527. They put the project's current total estimate at $5,277,527, with engineering and other costs expected to exceed $450,000. [3]
The minutes also quote the administrator as saying the bid came in "$27,000 over budget." They don't show how that figure was calculated. [3]
Staff asked to move $900,000 toward the tank: $400,000 from the 1100 West waterline project, which the minutes say was running about $406,650 under its $1,200,000 estimate, plus the $500,000 contingency. The council said it was comfortable appropriating the funds; no motion is recorded. [3]
The minutes say the goal was a 1.5-million-gallon tank, with the engineering firm JUB hoping for about 1.8 million gallons. [3]
The award
The Aug. 6 minutes say the council had directed staff on July 7 to put the $400,000 and the $500,000 contingency toward the tank, with the goal of maximizing its volume toward 1.5 million gallons. [4]
The $4,217,641.34 award is about $610,000 less than the $4,827,527 low bid listed in the July 7 minutes. The minutes reviewed don't describe what changed in the contract. [3][4]
The difference between the low bid and the award is a comparison of two figures in the minutes, not a measured saving; the records reviewed do not say what scope or quantities changed. The Aug. 6, 2026 special session packet, which contains the staff recommendation and bid schedules, could not be opened by The Ledger's fetch tool. The contract award is not an amount paid.
Sources
- Woods Cross City · Bid posting, Rebid 1500 South Tank Replacement Project
- Utah Public Notice Website · Woods Cross 'Request for ReBid-1500 S Water Tank,' June 1, 2026
- Woods Cross City Council · Approved July 7, 2026 minutes
- Woods Cross City Council · Approved Aug. 6, 2026 special session minutes
Reporting by The Utah Ledger from the public records above. AI-assisted, checked against those records.