Greenville Water Authority board members on Wednesday agreed to seek bids for replacing aging water lines on Main Street, a project estimated to cost nearly $300,000.

The authority would like to complete the project while that part of the street between the former Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad tracks and the Main Street bridge is torn up during the construction of phase two of Greenville’s streetscape.

The downtown area’s revitalization project is out to bid and council is expected to award a contract in May, said Richard H. Miller, authority chairman and Greenville’s mayor.

The authority wants the borough to help fund the project because it will also improve fire protection, which is the borough’s responsibility, he said.

Greenville Fire Chief Steve Thompson told council members at their March 6 work session the current lines have inadequate volume and pressure for fire hydrants but that would improve if the lines were replaced.

The flow also isn’t sufficient enough for new sprinkler systems, which new or existing businesses may need to install in the future if they renovate downtown buildings, Miller said.

Council members said they would discuss the authority’s request further once a cost estimate was available. Council member Pamela Auchter, the borough’s representative to the water authority, said she’ll share the new details with the rest of council.

Authority superintendent William Brady urged the board to send the project out to bid even though it’s not known if or how the borough can help pay. The bids may come in lower than expected, he said.

“The market’s hungry right now,” Brady said of rising construction costs.

Authority member Gary Beatty said the project could cost even less if the same contractor is hired to do streetscape and the water lines.

Mrs. Auchter said council can discuss using some of the borough’s $1,132,998 surplus for the project. She said she would rather spend it on improving the water system than repairing borough parking lots, one of several capital improvement projects council plans to fund with the surplus.

The authority wants to avoid replacing water lines after phase two of streetscape is complete so the road wouldn’t be torn up a second time, which would cost more money to replace.

Before the authority can award a contract, the project must be approved by PennDOT, said Thomas L. Thompson of Gannett Fleming Inc., Mercer, the authority’s engineer.

The authority considered replacing water lines on Main while plans for phase one of streetscape were being prepared in 2004. The idea was scrapped after PennDOT made changes to the project, making it more trouble than it was worth and increasing the cost to about $225,000.

Thompson said the $295,000 estimate is based on bids received in 2004 for replacing water lines on Main from Mercer Street to the railroad tracks, recent bids for other water line projects and current construction costs.