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Public works unveils updated Quad‑City engineering standards; 60‑day comment period begins
Summary
City Engineer Randy Perham presented revisions to the General Engineering Standards and Quad‑City standard details, noting increased regional alignment and changes to water, wastewater and transportation chapters; the council opened a 60-day public comment period and scheduled an open house April 23.
City Deputy Public Works Director and City Engineer Randy Perham presented proposed updates to Prescott’s General Engineering Standards (GES) and the Quad‑City standard details during the Feb. 25 council meeting, and the council opened a 60‑day public comment period.
Perham described the GES as the city’s written specifications for public- and private-development construction and the Quad‑City standard details as the graphical drawings used by contractors. He said the 2025 updates focus on three chapters — water, wastewater and transportation — and aim to increase consistency across neighboring jurisdictions (Prescott, Prescott Valley and Chino Valley).
Perham told council the 2016 iteration had about 61% of details standardized across the three cities; the 2025 draft raises that agreement to about 79%, a near‑20% increase in common details. Notable policy and detail changes include: codifying an existing process allowing water meter installation prior to vertical construction to provide fire protection; increased half-widths and multimodal features for some arterial sections; and updated materials or dimensions where field experience showed recurring maintenance or supply issues.
Perham said the Quad‑City details were updated after field input from operators and inspectors, and city staff reviewed usability, safety and supply‑chain considerations. He also noted the GES updates include more multimodal and ADA pedestrian facilities — for example, moving from a single 4‑foot sidewalk on some residential collectors to two 5‑foot sidewalks on both sides of the street.
Councilmembers asked about impacts on contractors, bidding and opportunities for coordinated bidding across jurisdictions; Perham said standardized details may make regional coordinated bidding more feasible and could attract larger contractors. Councilmember Roosing and others raised concerns about legacy nonstandard installations in historic areas and utility poles located in sidewalks; Perham said the new standards do not permit replacing sidewalks with poles in the carriage path.
The council opened a 60‑day public comment period; staff posted redlined documents showing revisions and announced an open house on April 23 from 4–6 p.m. at the Adult Center on Rosser Street for informal review and discussion.
No council vote was required on the presentation itself; councilmembers encouraged the public and contractor community to review the draft and submit comments.
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