Saint Charles committee approves contracts, moves forward on 1,500‑foot well and raw‑water line

The Saint Charles City Government Services Committee on Monday approved a set of contracts and a notice of intent that advance a multi‑phase project to expand the city's water supply and to maintain day‑to‑day utility operations.

The committee unanimously approved a master engineering services agreement for the water and sanitary sewer utility, an hourly‑rate underground repairs contract, and a notice of intent to solicit bids for a deep well and raw water transmission line that staff say will help address system capacity constraints.

Staff described the master service agreement as an hourly‑rate contract for routine design, bidding and construction oversight for smaller sanitary and water projects, lift‑station work and other underground utility tasks. “This is the master service agreement. So this is an hourly rate contract for engineering services, which is usually design and or bidding and or construction oversight,” a Public Works staff member said during the meeting. The staff recommendation named Ferrogram as the preferred firm from an earlier RFP selection process.

The committee also approved an hourly emergency/overflow underground repairs contract with IHC (the low proposer). Staff said the contract is intended to give city crews supplemental capacity for high‑volume periods such as multiple water‑main breaks and to perform hydro‑excavation, valve replacement and similar point repairs. On lead service lines encountered during repairs, staff said the city’s current policy is to replace lines only at “high risk facilities” this year, such as licensed day‑care centers or schools; staff noted there are no schools in Saint Charles identified for replacement under this year’s high‑risk schedule. “We’re only taking care of lead service lines at high risk facilities,” the staff presenter said.

On the larger supply project, staff asked the committee to approve a notice of intent so the bid package for drilling and related work can be submitted for review under the loan process. Staff described a three‑phase program: drilling a new deep well (Phase 1), installing a raw water line from the well to the city’s existing treatment plant on Ohio Street, and ultimately rehabilitating filters and other treatment plant components. The well is planned as a deep well roughly 1,500 feet deep; staff estimated the full program at about $10 million and said the early bid packages as presented are slightly under budget by roughly $1.5 million but cautioned the largest and final rehabilitation phase had yet to be bid.

A separate bid for the raw waterline drew five bidders, with the low bid coming in “slightly under budget” at approximately $3.2 million, staff reported. Directional drilling is planned for much of the route so staff said the work should minimize full road closures; staff also said they have been coordinating with Union Pacific for permits to bore under railroad tracks.

Staff said both the well and raw water line are being bundled into an EPA loan process; the committee approved the notice of intent so the city can submit the complete bid package for loan review and later return for final contract approval and authority to proceed with construction.

The committee’s approvals for these items were recorded by roll call and carried without dissent. The committee's actions set the city up to return next month with final contract awards and construction requests once the loan review and final bids are complete.

Looking ahead, staff said the next significant budget and bidding step will be the rehabilitation of the treatment plant filters and electrical systems, which account for the largest portion of the program’s remaining costs.