Aberdeen board approves ARPA payments and adds rehab work for two wells

The Aberdeen Board of Aldermen on April 7 approved a series of ARPA-funded payments for the city’s water system, including Perma Corp. Pay Request #12 for $99,750 and Maguire Iron Pay Request #12 for $77,900, and authorized an additional $183,000 in rehabilitation work on Wells #9 and #12.

The board voted on the motions during its regular meeting at Aberdeen City Hall; the roll-call votes recorded members present voting "Aye." The items were charged to the City of Aberdeen ARPA funds account as part of the city’s ongoing water-supply improvement work.

The payments and the additional well rehabilitation are tied to a larger grant-funded project. William Sandford, speaking on behalf of Neel Shaffer, described the funding status: "This is regarding the $4,000,000.00 grant. They have already used $200,000.00 out of 2 jobs on the Wells contract budget, and they will use the remaining $200,000.00 with additional Rehab work that needs to be done out of the remaining project of the infrastructure. They will spend the rest of the money of $183,000.00 on Rehab Work well #9 and #12, which will leave about $300.00 to get the work done by June or July, which was part of the scope of the project."

The board did not place detailed contract amendments in the meeting minutes beyond the approved pay requests and the added rehabilitation line item. City Attorney Walter H. Zinn told the board earlier that easement issues related to Newberger Park and the Housing Authority are still under negotiation and would return to the board for approval once attorneys reach an agreement.

Next steps identified in the meeting notes include proceeding with the contractor work tied to the approved pay requests and rehabilitation; Sandford indicated the project remains on schedule to complete the described scope by June or July.