Trenton council approves multiple public-works contracts and professional services totaling about $1.4 million

Trenton City Council on July 7 approved a package of construction and professional-service contracts for streets, municipal facilities and sewer projects and referred a Westfield Community Building bid to the city engineer for review.

The most immediate contract award was a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) project to replace Atwood Street from West Jefferson to Riverside. City staff said the project received seven bids; Dominic Aglio Construction submitted the lowest responsive bid and the council authorized awarding the CDBG contract at $149,070.

Council also authorized several Fishbeck professional-service agreements for sewer and wastewater work: an inflow source investigation in the Van Horn Sewer District not to exceed $85,930, and a wastewater-treatment-plant flow-management plan not to exceed $49,300. Both contracts were charged to the sewer contractual-services account, staff said.

As part of the municipal building improvement bond program, the council approved extending a 2024 DDA street-rehabilitation contract to rehabilitate parking lots at the Kennedy Recreation Center, the Cultural Center and the library. The base cost cited by staff was $978,926 with a 10 percent contingency for a total authorization of $1,076,819.

The council also approved a crack-seal and seal-coat contract for the bike path along the Frank and Poet Drain from King Road to Van Horn. Al’s Asphalt was authorized for $17,090 with a 15 percent contingency, making the total project authorization $19,653. Council members asked whether the work would close the whole path; staff said the work will be done in two halves and that residents would be notified in advance.

Council received a clerks-office bid for Westfield Community Building structural repairs (Pullman SST Inc., base bid $585,850 and a 5 percent bid bond) and moved to refer that bid to the city engineer for review and recommendation.

All motions described above were moved and supported on the July 7 agenda and recorded as unanimously approved by the council unless otherwise noted in the minutes.

Why it matters: the actions fund near-term capital repairs and planning work (sewer investigations, ADA assessments, and parking-lot and roadway resurfacing) that the city said are necessary to maintain municipal infrastructure and to implement projects tied to the municipal bond and a CDBG grant.

Council and staff identified funding sources in the meeting: the CDBG grant for Atwood Street, sewer contractual-services funds for the Fishbeck agreements, municipal bond funds for facility-related parking-lot work and the capital projects parks improvement account for the bike path work. Staff said funds are available in the cited accounts and authorized the expenditures.

No dissenting votes were recorded on these items; the Westfield Community Building bid was referred to the city engineer for further review rather than awarded at the meeting.

Implementation notes: staff said the parking-lot work was being done under extended pricing from a 2024 DDA contract because the scope was similar; the bike path work will include up to 3,000 lineal feet of crack sealing and full surface seal coating. The Fishbeck contracts were described as necessary next steps to identify inflow sources and manage flows at the wastewater treatment plant.

Background: the city described the municipal facilities and parking lots as having surpassed an estimated 20-year useful life, a reason staff gave for prioritizing rehabilitation under the municipal bond program.

Looking ahead: staff and the city engineer will oversee contract administration and scheduling; the council did not set specific completion dates during the meeting.