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Council approves multiple infrastructure contracts; authorizes Aspen Boulevard study and hears water-treatment update
Summary
At a regular meeting, council members approved several contract actions for street, drainage and water projects, voted to proceed with an Aspen Boulevard corridor study, and received an update that the city's water treatment membranes are being installed and hardness testing will take one to two months.
The city council approved multiple infrastructure contracts and pay applications and authorized a corridor study for Aspen Boulevard during a meeting that included updates on the water treatment plant.
Council members voted to move forward on a set of contractor and engineering agreements, including a special-assessment estimate for the East Ironwood project not to exceed $69,612, pay applications for concrete pavement and the water treatment plant, contracts to design Brandon Bluffs phase 2 drainage improvements and to design the Bethany lift station, and a proposal from DGR to study the Aspen Boulevard corridor east of Split Rock out to Bethany Meadows.
The Aspen Boulevard corridor study was presented as a Metropolitan Planning Organization-coordinated project to evaluate traffic conditions east of Split Rock to Bethany Meadows amid ongoing development. A speaker noted the study could evaluate lowering speed limits, traffic-control devices and potential roundabouts or traffic signals. "We need to probably, and I hate to say it, make changes like lowering the speed limit," the speaker said. The council approved the study proposal from DGR.
On the Bethany Lift Station design contract, a council member moved to approve the contract "minus section 5.1, mutual waivers," citing advice from the city attorney; the council approved that motion. The removal of section 5.1 (mutual waivers) was accepted by the consultant, according to the transcript. The approval is contingent on that contractual edit rather than the original draft containing the mutual-waiver language.
Council members also approved an engineering contract to develop plans and set grades for phase 2 of the Brandon Bluffs drainage-improvement project, which would expand work primarily east of Van Buskirk Park. The project description in the packet showed the existing phase 1 work in blue and the proposed phase 2 in pink/red; the phase 2 scope described removing trees and opening the drainage way to restore flow.
On the water treatment plant, a staff member identified as Raleigh reported that membranes were being placed into the reverse-osmosis skids and that installation work was "getting closer, real close, I think, by the end of the month." Another staff member, Christina, cautioned that while the system would be online soon, final hardness levels and guidance for residents' home water-softening needs would take one to two months of testing. "But as far as where your water softener needs to be, we will not know for a few months," Christina said.
Votes at a glance
- East Ironwood special-assessment estimate / contract not to exceed $69,612 — motion to approve; outcome: approved (motion carries). - Concrete pavement repair project pay application — motion to approve; outcome: approved (motion carries). - Aspen Boulevard corridor study proposal (DGR) — motion to approve; outcome: approved (motion carries). - Bethany lift station design proposal (Water & Sewer) — motion to approve contingent on removal of section 5.1 (mutual waivers); outcome: approved (motion carries). - Brandon Bluffs Drainage Improvement (phase 2 design by DGR) — motion to approve design contract; outcome: approved (motion carries). - Water treatment plant pay application No. 30 (contract/project number 2050049698 referenced) — motion to approve; outcome: approved (motion carries).
Meeting context and next steps
Most items were approved with routine motions and few substantive amendments; the Bethany lift station approval included a specific contractual revision (removal of section 5.1) at the request of the city attorney. Staff will complete design work and testing: Brandon Bluffs will move into a phase 2 design process, the Aspen corridor study will evaluate traffic-control options, and the water treatment plant team will finish membrane installation and conduct one to two months of water-quality testing to determine hardness levels and downstream implications for residents' water softeners.
The council adjourned with no executive session requested.
