GEARHART – The Gearhart City Council will start all over again with bidding for a new water treatment plant and water tower until after a special bond measure election Sept. 21.

Although the city had already received bids on the water-treatment plant, and the winning bidder had agreed to hold the bid until after the election, the Council agreed to reject all bids.

If voters approve the $4 million bond measure, the city would be able to put out the bid requests for a combined treatment plant/water tower project, said City Administrator Dennis McNally. With a separate bid for the water tower, the city probably would have to work with a company different than the company building the treatment plant, he said.

“With one company bidding on everything, it will work within the system,” McNally said. “Two bid packages would be confusing.”

Engineering designs, pipe dimensions and company practices may differ if two companies are involved in the construction, he said.

The city would also run the risk of litigation from other bidders if the first bid were held for more than 60 days, McNally added.

“We couldn’t do anything until the vote anyway,” he said.

The Council decided in June to seek another $4 million to complete construction of a new citywide water system after receiving bids for the water treatment plant and estimates for the water tower, to be built on Salminen Road east of the city.

The water-treatment plant is expected to cost between $7.4 million and $7.5 million, and the water tower between $1.9 million and $2.3 million.

The city has $5.6 million left from a $7 million bond measure approved by voters six years ago. Eight wells have been dug and plans for the water-treatment plant, which will be built near the tennis courts in the city center, have been completed.

Unexpected legal bills to fight a two-year battle with the city of Warrenton, which currently supplies Gearhart’s water, absorbed some of that bond measure. A need to reinforce the water wells to withstand earthquakes cost the city another $1 million. Five years of inflation also diluted the funds, McNally said.

If voters approve the $4 million bond measure in September, construction should start within a few months, he said. By having the same company working on both projects, the treatment plant and the water tower could be built concurrently, McNally added.

More information will be available during a town hall meeting from 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 25 at Gearhart Elementary School. McNally and the Council will answer questions from property owners about the project and the bond measure.