Helena awards $2.17 million contract to repair Red Mountain flume, adds $525,000 contingency

The Helena City Commission on Sept. 8 approved a $2,173,196 contract to repair the Red Mountain flume and authorized a $525,000 budget amendment to activate cash reserves as contingency.

Public Works Director Leland told commissioners the project will replace and bury roughly 8,000 feet of flume piping to stop heavy losses: “we are losing a ton of water upwards of 80% of what we are trying to collect,” he said, and later described losses in that section as “probably, you know, around 30 to 40%.” Leland credited City Engineer Jamie Clark for advancing the project through permitting: “It was all Jamie Clark. It was not me.”

The commission voted 5-0 to award the base bid and additive alternate 1 to Hard Rock Road Building and Utilities Inc., and to activate the $525,000 contingency to allow the city to use available ARPA funds without returning to the commission for incremental transfers. Bids were opened Aug. 12; the staff presentation listed three bids and provided the additive alternate prices included in staff materials.

Leland described the scope as burying the pipe, installing turnouts and intakes, and restoring the historic appearance of visible features: “we are going to bury all of the pipe, and then we’re going to have the historic look of the intakes and the turnouts to be able to clean the pipe out.” He said the work follows a roughly two-and-a-half-year permitting process with the U.S. Forest Service driven in part by historic-value reviews. As part of that permitting, the city plans an adjacent interpretive trail with signage, Leland said.

Commissioners asked about project timeline and documentation. Leland said work is weather-dependent: contracting could begin this fall, but main work will start next spring or summer; staff hopes to complete the work in a single construction season and said they are “hoping to get it all completed, come next fall.”

The motion to approve the base bid and additive alternate 1 and to activate cash reserves carried on a 5-0 roll call: Commissioner Shurtleff (Aye), Commissioner Dean (Aye), Commissioner Reid (Aye), Commissioner Logan (Aye), Mayor Wilmot Collins (Aye).

Project financial details discussed at the meeting included a base bid reported in staff remarks and three additive alternates; staff recommended awarding the base bid plus the first additive alternate and keeping a construction contingency of approximately 10% given the typical underground unknowns.

The commission discussion and staff comments indicated the project will be funded primarily with ARPA allocations the city identified for water infrastructure projects. Staff said the contingency activation is intended to avoid having to seek additional transfers if change orders or unforeseen site conditions arise.

The commission received no public opposition during the item’s hearing and the city clerk recorded no online comments for this agenda item.

Work on the flume ties to the city’s strategic planning and previously approved ARPA allocations; staff said the flume had been identified as a priority in earlier planning efforts and that federal ARPA dollars made this scale of repair possible.

Staff said they will return to the commission if scope or funding needs change beyond the approved contingency. The commission did not set a formal follow-up deadline at the meeting.