The Village Council voted unanimously on Monday night to award about $3.5 million to two subcontractors who will work on the second phase of its ongoing VIP (Village Improvement Project), which includes the resurfacing of streets and alleys throughout Forest Park.

A $921,550 contract was awarded to Chicagoland Paving Contractors, Inc. for street reconstruction, while a $2,239,103 contract was awarded to Nardulli Concrete, Inc. for alley reconstruction.

Both contracts were awarded to the lowest bidder, though Commissioner Terry Steinbach noted at the meeting that only two companies bid on the street surfacing portion. The other bid, from Johnson Paving, came in at about $940,000. Three bids were received for the alley reconstruction portion of the project.

Michael Stirk of Christopher Burke Engineering, which is serving as construction manager for the VIP, said he was also surprised by the low number of bids but was satisfied with the few that had been received.

“The bottom line bids are consistent with and exceed our expectations,” he said.

Stirk said that the first phase of the project, which is scheduled to be complete early this summer, is projected to come in about $201,000 under budget. The village has used about $150,000 of this extra money for additional infrastructure improvements including water system upgrades and traffic calming measures at Marengo Avenue and Washington Street, according to Stirk.

The second phase, which is scheduled to begin soon after the first concludes, was projected to come in about $260,000 under budget, said Stirk.

“As other items come up that are either unforeseen or the village needs to attack as they arise, the village can put the money towards that,” he said.

Funding for the project comes from the 2005 sales tax referendum which will contribute half of the one percent tax to finance the sale of bonds covering the cost of the work.

Leftover money can only be put toward infrastructure projects similar to the VIP. For example, Stirk said, leftover money could be added to the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds the village receives from Cook County for alley improvements, but could not be put into the fund for the construction of a parking structure on Madison Street.

Notices of upcoming work have been sent out to residents of affected streets at least two weeks before construction begins throughout the VIP.

More information about the project and updates on the construction schedule are available at www.forestparkvip.org.