Council signs agreements to get ready for major 2020 capital improvements

by Marianne Gasaway

Clear Lake City Administrator Scott Flory said recent City Council agendas are a clear example of the 2019 budget year wrapping up and things to come.  At its most recent meeting the Council approved three professional services agreements for capital projects scheduled for fiscal year 2020, which begins in less than one month.

One of the major capital improvements projects identified in the City’s 2020 municipal budget is the removal and replacement of the existing city bridge structure located on South 40th Street.  The bridge which crosses Clear Creek, better known as the Outlet, was recommended for replacement in the city’s most recent Bridge Inspection Report completed in June 2018.  The average daily traffic crossing the bridge is 400 vehicles per day.

The City has negotiated a professional services agreement with Veenstra & Kimm, of Mason City, for preliminary engineering services in order to determine a more precise scope of improvements.

The proposed timeline for the work would be to bid the project at the end of the year or in early 2020.  Construction would begin in late March and be completed by October 2020.  The City allocated $250,000 for the project.  The professional service agreement approved Monday is not to exceed $28,000.

The last remaining segment of the overall 4th Avenue South street rehabilitation improvements is the section between South Shore Drive and South 8th Street.  The City has budgeted $110,000 in fiscal year 2020 for its street resurfacing, which will include pavement milling, patching and overlay.  There will also be spot curb and gutter repairs, new alley approaches and compliant sidewalk ramps.  Council members also added that sidewalks in need of repair should also be addressed.

Another major 2020 capital improvement project is City-wide alley improvements.  A preliminary services agreement with Veenstra & Kimm was approved for $22,000.  The firm will assist the City in determining which alleys are to be included in the scope of the $250,000 project.

The City has approximately 107 alley segments.

Generally, the scope of the proposed improvements would be limited to spot repairs, grading and shaping of granular surface unimproved alleys, and a two-inch thick asphalt paving.  No underground improvements to infrastructure is included in the project, with the exception of potentially some sub-drain, if necessary.

It is anticipated the project bid letting would occur in late September.  Construction activities would commence in October and be complete by mid-November.