City hears POPS small-area plan cost estimates; staff to pursue bid-ready plans

City consultants presented preliminary cost estimates and next steps for the proposed POPS small-area plan, and council directed staff to pursue more detailed, bid-ready documents.

Chris Jansen of MSA presented the cost breakdowns: "The estimated cost on that is $80,048 and change" for the stage/site grading (phase 1); the stormwater/pond site grading (phase 2a) was estimated at "$252,934 and change"; and the pond-related infrastructure piece was quoted as "$121,870, $887 and change." Jansen emphasized these are conceptual estimates based on site quantities and regional unit prices and that final costs require full engineering plans and competitive bids.

Council members discussed funding sources and sequencing. Staff observed there may be economies of scale if grading and pond construction are done together, noting a combined two-phase cost could be roughly in the mid‑hundreds of thousands (a staff estimate in discussion was "between the two, including engineering ... $470,000"). One council member said POPS had "somewhere between 8 and $900,000 in a combination of pledge and actual cash," indicating the group has substantial but not unlimited funds for construction.

Staff and the consultant advised the next step is to prepare construction documents to put work out to bid. Staff estimated preparing those documents could cost on the order of $75,000; council discussed using remaining ARPA funds (staff noted roughly "$40,000 to $45,000" remaining) as a potential funding source for design documents. Council asked staff to work with MSA and city engineering to define the exact level of design needed and to return with refined cost and funding options for future budget discussion; no formal spending decision was recorded at this meeting.