Toledo council reviews emergency sewer repair, multiple utility projects, streetscape and festival-street grants

Toledo City Council on April 1 heard a package of infrastructure and development items that included an emergency sanitary-sewer assessment at Arlington Avenue, new and expanded grant funding for road and water projects, emergency cleaning and repairs at the Bayview Water Reclamation Facility, a short-term lease to support a new payment kiosk for the Department of Public Utilities and questions about the recent elimination of winter sewer averaging, and planning and small grants to support downtown and riverfront projects.

The most immediate item involved the Arlington Avenue sanitary sewer near Francis Street, where Department of Transportation staff sought authority to waive competitive bidding and contract with Hillebrand and Sons Construction to perform an emergency investigation and assessment. Christie Sondcrant, Commissioner for Engineering Construction Management, said the city requested quotes from six contractors and received a single bid; Hillebrand was on site to begin an investigation. Sondcrant said contractors are “very nervous with it being 45 feet deep” and estimated the inspection phase would take about two weeks, after which staff would determine whether to repair, line or design a larger replacement. The department estimated the investigation and initial work at about $250,000 and noted earlier full-repair bids had been as high as $20,000,000.

Council also accepted a cooperative grant agreement from the Ohio Department of Transportation adding $263,757 to a previously awarded $2,600,000 for the Secor Road reconstruction project between Laskey and Alexis; the addition raises the ODOT grant total for that project to roughly $2.9 million.

On utilities, Director Doug Stevens and staff presented several items. The council heard that the Army Corps of Engineers is providing a cost-share grant to support a planned raw water main project intended to connect new raw water mains to an alternate water-supply reservoir. Stevens thanked Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur for assistance obtaining the grant and said the raw-water main work is…