Denison approves design contract for 2nd Avenue South project and pays first invoice on 20th Street storm sewer work

Council voted to approve Beck Engineering's proposal for design, administration and inspection services for the 2nd Avenue South Reconstruction (Main Street to 16th Street). The engineering fee package presented totaled about $202,100 minus prior reimbursements; staff said the project requires reconstruction rather than overlay and set a bid advertisement schedule with a public hearing and bid opening in mid-July.

On capital payments, the council also considered pay application #1 for OnTrack Construction LLC for the 20th Street storm sewer improvements in the amount of $115,670.10. The engineer and staff described outstanding punch-list and traffic-control issues; councilors debated whether to pay half of traffic-control costs to signal contractor accountability and discussed using retainage or per-diem offsets to recoup city costs. The council moved and approved payout number 1 while staff agreed to track open items and the retainage position for the next pay request.

Why it matters: The actions advance two public-infrastructure projects and reflect ongoing oversight of contractor performance, retainage and project closeout costs; councilors noted a new state law change (Senate File 574) limiting future retainage to 3% for projects bidding after July 1, 2025.

Next steps: Staff will circulate bid documents, tabulate bids for council review, proceed with the July 15 public hearing and continue oversight of the storm-sewer contractor, including retainage accounting and potential pursuit of damages or offsets if justified.

Provenance: topicintro SEG 778, topfinish SEG 1053