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Council rejects Legacy Drive NW bids after pipeline-owner raises depth concerns; staff to redesign and rebid
Summary
The council voted to reject all bids for Legacy Drive NW after BP flagged the proposed pipe depth; the city engineer recommended redesigning the plan to reduce pipe cover (to about 8–9 feet), rebid in late summer, and aim to complete construction by December 2026 to satisfy deed conditions.
Stewartville officials voted to reject all bids for the Legacy Drive Northwest improvements after the pipeline owner raised concerns about the depth proposed in the bid documents.
City staff explained that the originally approved design placed a pipeline at roughly 10–10.5 feet depth, which the pipeline owner (BP) said would be too deep for maintenance and would likely prompt them to run a new line. The city engineer told council that reducing the required cover to about eight feet — possibly up to nine feet — would make the plan acceptable to BP and avoid more extensive pipeline work. Staff also noted that the original design included a 48-inch drainage pipe and that reduced cover may require additional conveyance or multiple pipes.
Given BP’s refusal to accept the deeper alignment and the contracts’ bid-hold limits (bids cannot be held for longer than 60 days), the engineer recommended rejecting the current bids, completing a redesign in coordination with BP and the city’s water-resources engineers, and returning to council with revised plans. Staff said a rebid could be possible in August with construction starting in September and a goal of completing the project by December 2026 to meet deeded completion requirements.
Council voted to reject the bids and directed staff to pursue the redesign and expedited rebid; no roll-call tally is recorded in the transcript.
