The Lafayette City Council approved a contract with Butler, Fairman & Seifert for construction inspection services on the South Ninth Street project, which runs from Brick and Wood Drive South to Veterans Memorial Parkway.

The contract covers inspection work for a multi‑phase, federally aided project that the city has developed over six years. City Engineer Jeremy Grinard told the council the work was divided into two phases and into three NDOT DES tracking numbers for separate elements: road construction, bridge reconstruction over Elliot Ditch, and a deep gravity sanitary sewer. "We've been developing it now for 6 years, and we're finally at the tail end of that 6 years," Grinard said.

The project will be bid as a single contract but tracked under separate DES numbers so each funding source pays its share. Grinard said the road construction inspection fee attributable to the TIF district is $862,000, the bridge inspection fee is $197,000 (to be paid by the county), and the sewer inspection fee is $224,000 (to be paid by Lafayette Renew). Council approval of the inspection contract was made contingent on a memorandum of understanding between the city and Tippecanoe County that specifies reimbursement for the bridge portion; Grinard said that MOU was "working its way through city council and the county commissioners."

Grinard also gave a construction schedule: staff plan to advertise bids in February, with visible construction expected in March or April, and some utility relocation already under way. He said the first phase will start on the southern portion (south of Ortman Lane) because of the stormwater outlet there.

Council members moved and seconded approval by voice vote; the motion passed. The council recorded that it would not finalize the city's local payments until the MOU is executed and NDOT issues its invoices for the local share.

Next steps for the project include finalizing the MOU with the county, completing the bid package for the combined contract with separate DES accounting, and executing the inspection services agreement.