Council weighs Long Meadow water-main replacement options; asks for site visit and bid alternates

West Burlington councilmembers discussed competing approaches to a planned Long Meadow water-main replacement and asked staff to prepare more information and bid alternates rather than selecting a construction method or final scope at the meeting.

City staff outlined four options: (1) replace the line within the current alley width with open-cut trenching; (2) trenchless (boring) installation within the current right-of-way; (3) extend the hard-surface alley all the way to Van Whis and replace the main with trenching; or (4) extend to Van Whis and use trenchless installation. Staff said extending the alley would improve access but may bring additional traffic adjacent to Pat Klein Park and would increase short-term roadway costs.

Council and staff discussed technical trade-offs: trenchless (boring) disturbs less surface, reduces settlement risk and shortens restoration time, while open-cut trenching is typically less expensive but more disruptive. Staff advised that boring would limit visible disturbance and recommended bid alternates that permit the city to evaluate both price and impact.

A budget placeholder of roughly $200,000 was mentioned for the project (engineering and preliminary budgeting), but council members asked to inspect the alley and requested that staff pursue bid alternates for both boring and open-cut approaches before returning with a recommendation.

No formal motion to award or select a construction approach was taken; the item was deferred so council members could view the site and await bid pricing and engineer input.