Council paves the way for infrastructure improvements

The city’s commitment to maintaining and improving its infrastructure was on display at Monday night’s Clear Lake City Council meeting.  The group took action on six projects representing millions of dollars of investment.

A contract was awarded to Charlson Excavating, of Clear Lake, for the West 7th Avenue North Watermain Improvement Project.  Charlson was the lowest of five bidders for the work at $424,000.  The bid was approximately 9 percent higher than the engineer’s estimate of $389,299.  Jason Petersburg, consulting engineer with Veenstra & Kimm, of Mason City, attributed the elevated bid to current market conditions.  City Administrator Scott Flory said the city allocated $422,000 for the project, using funds from its fiscal year 2015 and 2016 budgets.

The project entails the construction of approximately 2,750 linear feet of 12-inch water main to be installed between North Shore Drive (at the Department of Natural Resources’ fish hatchery) and 19th Street West on West 7th Avenue North.  The project will begin about Aug. 10 and will be completed by Oct. 30, 2015.

The Council accepted the work and made final payment to Visu-Sewer, of Pewaukee, Wis., for the 2015 Sewer Rehabilitation Project. The project, which involved the rehabilitation of approximately 5,300 linear feet of sewer pipe, with point repairs and manholes, along with lining for a 24-inch diameter drain tile that runs across Highway 18 within the DOT right-of-way, was $260,825.

The North 6th Street Reconstruction Project was also accepted and payment to Heartland Asphalt, of Mason City, was approved.  The hot-mix asphalt paving project cost the city $168,400, which was 5 percent less than the engineer’s estimate.  North 6th Street between Highway 18 and 10th Avenue North was reconstructed, with a new eight-inch sewer main, manhole, eight-inch water main, concrete driveway approaches sidewalks and curb.  City officials noted the project improved the area to facilitate construction of a new Dollar General Store.  Dollar General represented approximately 55 percent of the $53,313 which was assessed to property owners for the work.  Assessments, which comprised 32 percent of the project cost, typically came in 25 percent lower than preliminary assessments given to property owners.

The Council also approved final payment to Landmark Structures, of Fort Worth, Texas for its work on the new Northwest Water Tower.

Project updates were provided on the North Shore Drive Street Reconstruction Project, as well as the Water Treatment Plant High Service Replacement Project.