Bids for street project come in under budget

At a time when the cost of everything appears to be going up, the low bid for New Rockford’s street improvements came in $1 million less than engineers anticipated.

Six companies submitted bids for the paving portion of the project, which was estimated at $7.3 million last fall. Wade Senger of Interstate Engineering reported at the Monday, April 4 city commission meeting, “There was a lot of interest in this project.” The bids had been opened earlier that day.

Bituminous Paving of Ortonville, Minn. was the apparent low bidder, submitting a $5,933,127.50 base bid. Senger said that the company completed New Rockford’s last street improvement project, in 2001. After discussion with principals of the company, Senger said they were comfortable with both their numbers and the completion date of Nov. 1, 2022.

Commissioners formally accepted the bid from Bituminous Paving by unanimous vote. The company plans to start with a small crew in late spring/early summer, then bring a larger crew on-site by mid-summer. Senger said contracts would be presented to the company later in the week, and a pre-construction meeting will be scheduled soon.

Auditor Becki Schumacher reviewed financing options with the commission, including both municipal bonds and an infrastructure loan fund through the Bank of North Dakota. Commissioners authorized President Stu Richter to choose the better of the two after gathering more information about the rates and requirements of each.

“We are trying to do our due diligence to do better than what we presented last fall,” Senger noted, regarding project costs and the amount of special assessments. Now that the cost of the project is more concrete, the special assessment committee can begin to do its work determining the benefit to each property owner and allocating the costs accordingly. With $1 million less to divide amongst the 100,000 square feet of lot frontage, the special assessments should be markedly less than originally estimated.

Residents have likely noticed a change in the water supply, as the city began using the temporary water treatment process Tuesday. Senger said residents should note that while the temporary process has no effect on quantity and pressure, the quality will differ. The water is still safe to drink and use for cooking and bathing, although it will be harder. He advises that residents do not fill hot tubs or pools this month, because adding chemicals should change the chemistry of the water.

There will be a lot of activity at the water plant for the next few weeks, Senger said, as a team of professionals will be on site several times throughout April.

Senger added that they plan to start treating water with the new system the week of April 25. At that time, the professionals will be training city staff on how to use the equipment and making sure that it is working properly. For more on the new treatment processes and a look inside the water treatment plant, see page A2.

Commissioners approved Sentry Crane’s Progressive Estimate 15, totaling $126,457.57 for work completed in March. An estimated $640,000 remains to be paid.

Tax Equalization Director Kristy O’Connor presented the city tax equalization report. There were 30 residential sales, seven commercial sales, and two vacant lots sold in 2021. Both the residential and commercial valuations were below the accepted tolerance, so she reassessed all the land values. As a result, she sent out 142 notices of increase to property owners, and no one was present to protest.

The commission approved the equalization as presented. With the adjustments, the city’s taxable valuation totals $2,731,853, an 8.3% increase. The city’s taxable property is 29.28 percent commercial and 70.72 percent residential.

President Richter addressed the garbage removal and recycling bids solicited in February and opened in March. “With the ups and downs of public input, I move to reject all bids and start over,” he said. “It’s just too much coming at us.” With that the commission carried the motion unanimously.

A special meeting scheduled for March 21 was canceled after commissioners heard from concerned residents, and the direct feedback they received indicated that there wasn’t a clear consensus from the public on the direction to take. No timeline was given regarding when the garbage removal contract would be rebid.