Garden City Engineer's Report

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY.  March 12, 2015. Zan Murray, the City Engineer, reported that the bids for the parking lot east on 150 South and road work on the water line project were in; and the Council needed to let the bids to the desired contractors.  He noted that the lowest bid by a contractor didn’t necessarily mean that the project had to be given to that company.  The Council could select from the bids submitted who should do the work.

There were six bidders for each of the projects.  Three of the companies on each of the projects had figures really close to each other.  Murray indicated that was a good thing.  Apparently, each of these three companies had determined the amount of work and the needed materials in a very similar manner.

The lowest bidder on the 150 South project was Circle Construction with a bid in the  amount of $218,600.  The lowest bid on the water line project was MGM Construction Company (Mike Madsen) in the amount of $42,500.

Murray requested that the Notice of Awards should be selected, signed by the Council, and given back to him.  He will execute the contracts, make sure insurance is in place and let the companies know of the required bonding figures.  A tentative date for completion is about May 1.  The 150 South project will probably take a little longer—perhaps until the 21^st of May.  That is the Thursday before Memorial Day.  Murray reported that the 3^rd West Intersection and the City Park Projects should be completed by June 1. 

Mayor Spuhler asked Murray to get the needed figures to build a boardwalk extension from 350 South to intersect with the park boardwalk.

Beach access, Water’s Edge, and an easement to the Shundahi water tank are moving forward.  Norm Mecham noted that the easement is almost ready for signatures.  It just needs to be finalized with Murray.  Also, the proposal to the City from Norm for the sale of the Shundahi tank is in the works.  The proposal for this sale has been sent to Bruce Warner for his opinion.

Norm Mecham reduced the price on the tank by $100,000.  This makes his price equal with the cost to the City of building a new tank.  The City will probably finance this project through the State and pay Norm Mecham out.  The tank actually has a bigger capacity than the one being considered by the City; and because it is situated higher on the hill, the City would be gaining some redundancy in the water system. Water from this tank could be taken either direction from one end of the City to the other.

Murray reported that he and Riley Argyle are working on standards and specifications.  They seem to be moving forward with updates to the standards book.  One culvert on Third West has been put in place and is working well.  Apparently the Sewer District was unaware of the standards required by the Army Corp. of Engineers in covering sewer lines when wetland areas are involved.  Crushed rock is required to meet their standards.  The City redid a portion of the line that needed to be taken care of and will be billing the Sewer District for the costs involved.

Drainage on the north side of 150 South will be encroaching on Water’s Edge property.  A drainage easement is being worked on and should be completed in the near future.