City staff outlines scope and schedule for Joplin capital projects; warns of fuel- and permit-driven risks

Dan Johnson, a city staff member, told the Joplin City informal session that the city's capital improvement program is progressing across transportation, stormwater, trails, airport and sewer projects, but that rising fuel and material costs and permitting delays are creating schedule and price pressures.

Johnson opened by saying fuel costs are high and affecting bids and materials, but added the city has a "playbook" of tools to limit those effects. "Fuel prices are very high, and that's something that has an impact on all of our projects," he said. "We try to minimize the impact as much as we can." The presentation covered project status, budgets and upcoming procurement milestones.

The most immediate construction items include local road phases and a series of roundabouts. Johnson said Phase 1 (the roundabout at Duquesne) is complete, Phase 2 is under construction and Phase 3 is due to be bid this fall. He reported the 20th Street widening had an original budget of about $16,000,000; although the construction contract came in under that amount, the city recorded nearly $3,000,000 in additional design and related expenses.

On stormwater work, Johnson said Willow Branch is being delivered in phases: a section in 7th Street is part of a highway-department contract, the city plans to bid the 7th-to-Wall segment in late fall, and the remaining work is scheduled out in the capital plan. When asked whether old storm lines would simply be abandoned, Committee member Dutar asked, "...once the new stormwaters are built, those old ones are gonna be abandoned?" Johnson replied the city will work with property owners, leave some lines open where they still carry drainage and in some spots use flowable fill, noting many of those lines sit on private property without easements.

Johnson emphasized coordination with the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) on several projects tied to I-44. The Silver Creek I-44 culvert addition remains in design with a listed budget of $10,000,000; Johnson said the city's schedule must match MoDOT's lane-widening timetable. For the Sunnyvale project he said contract work and hydraulics were advanced by Algar Martin and Associates to align with MoDOT's widening plans.

The city's Main Street project (8th to 15th) is out to bid with openings on May 19 and is expected to stretch into the 2027 construction season, Johnson said. Trail work is also moving: the Tin Cup Trail and Tin Cup Bridge are close to completion, with decking underway and a target to have the bridge deck wrapped up for July 4. Johnson noted the Grama Falls trail is being bid as two separate projects to align with grant rules and streamline paperwork; MoDOT must clear the grant-funded portion before advertising.

On airport work, Johnson described a large specialized runway mill-and-overlay listed in the report (figures in the packet read as "11,000,000, 389,000") as substantially complete. Passenger boarding bridges are being fabricated in specialized shops and will be installed in two phases, with staff expecting installation to finish by the end of the year.

Johnson also reviewed sewer and water projects: the Glendale parallel interceptor is complete; the Tin Cup parallel force main is finalizing easements for a fall bid; ARPA-funded sanitary projects and interceptor improvements are in closeout. He noted that Rosetta Construction's owner Victor is retiring and that the firm is liquidating, removing that contractor from the city's future roster. The ARPA waterline-extension work, delivered in partnership with Missouri American Water, is complete except for closeout documents.

Council members praised the breadth of work and asked for clearer, uniform reporting. One committee member said it would be helpful to present each project in the same format (original budget, amounts spent by phase, and final cost for completed projects) so the public and council can readily track over- and under-runs. Committee member Price asked specifically whether Sunnyvale tied to MoDOT's I-44 widening; Johnson confirmed the tie and detailed the early hydraulics and hydrology work done by Algar Martin and Associates.

The session closed with the mayor thanking staff for the update; there were no formal motions or votes recorded during the informal session. The council adjourned the informal session and planned to reconvene at 6:00.