Fountain Green to seek expanded state funding for cemetery bridge after flood damage
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Summary
Council selected a pre-engineered metal bridge proposal and agreed to request $300,000–$320,000 from the state's disaster program to replace the flood-damaged cemetery bridge and to improve approach grading; state staff indicated full funding is possible under the new program.
Fountain Green City Council voted to pursue a Sunrise Engineering metal-bridge proposal and to ask the state for an expanded funding package to replace a cemetery bridge damaged in last year’s flood.
City staff said the original state disaster program previously required a 25% local match, but the new program administrator indicated the state may cover 100% of eligible costs. Council reviewed two options: a Jones & DeMille box culvert estimate (about $255,100 probable cost) and a Sunrise metal-bridge hard quote (about $275,000). Following a recommendation from state staff, council authorized asking the state for up to $300,000–$320,000 to cover contingencies and additional scope such as road base and approach grading.
Council members said a wider pre-engineered bridge would better handle high-velocity flood flows and reduce washout risk compared with replacing a culvert. Staff will work with the state contact (Tanner Patterson) to finalize the scope and request; the city also agreed to include demolition costs and a contingency allowance in the request so the project would not require additional supplemental requests mid-project.
The motion to accept the Sunrise scope and request increased funds passed on roll-call. The city will write a letter to the state describing the intended scope and will coordinate timing so the bridge contractor can hold the quoted price through the end of the calendar year if possible.
Next steps: staff to finalize the written request to the state and confirm timeline and contract terms with Sunrise Engineering.