City approves M-68 project bid

by Angie Asam, Staff Writer

Bids for the M-68 project in Onaway, which includes new water main to replace old deteriorated mains as well as streetscape and new streetlights, were opened Nov. 5 in Lansing. The project is a joint project between the city of Onaway and the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT).

M&M Excavating provided the low bid of $4,259,128.89, almost seven percent lower than the overall project budget. City manager Joe Hefele also determined that M&M provided the lowest price for the water portion of the project with the water bid line items totaling $872,755.95, which is $235,244.05 under the city?s construction budget on that project.

Recently a water tower inspection was done in Onaway and the city learned that the tower would need to be painted both inside and outside in the next five years. With the bid coming in low on the M-68 water project, city manager Joe Hefele is hopeful that the approximate cost of $150,000 for the painting will be left over in the budget for the M-68 project when construction is done, allowing the city to use the left over money for the painting of the tower.

The city will be using a United States Department of Agriculture ? Rural Development (USDA-RD) grant/loan and matching funds to pay for the water portion of the project while MDOT is funding most of the streetscape project. The city?s contribution to the streetscape project is ten percent of the total cost and is anticipated to be around $29,000.

As soon as weather breaks in the spring the project is scheduled to begin. One question mark that remains is how traffic will be routed around where crews will be working. The initial thought that was perhaps they would do half of the street at a time but since then Hefele felt that maybe the construction could be done two blocks at a time, with crews tearing up the entire road and the traffic being routed around using side streets.

?If there is a way to not do it single width it could be done faster. If you could do it a couple blocks at a time you wouldn?t be putting the burden of a detour on the same people all of the time as the detour would be changing all of the time,? said Hefele who expects to discuss the issue at the pre-construction meeting scheduled for Dec. 9 in Alpena.

The city commission authorized the mayor and clerk to sign the contract between the city and MDOT as well as support an award by MDOT to M&M Excavating contingent upon the concurrence of USDA-RD. MDOT actually awards the contract but needed the approval of the city, as it is also involved in the project.

IN OTHER CITY COMMISSION NEWS:

? Lake

shore Environmental has submitted a project summary to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment (MDNRE) regarding a Brownfield grant application for the Dollar General property. MDNRE contacted Hefele after reviewing the proposal and informed him they would consider the project if they got a resolution of support from the city. The city did adopt the resolution of support as if it was funded the city would be the recipient of the grant funds, which would allow a site classified as contaminated by the state to be cleaned up and developed resulting in needed tax base and job creation in Onaway.

? Seven individuals have volunteered to sit on the Downtown Development Authority board and Hefele is hopeful by the next meeting of the city commission he will be asking the commission to seat the nine-member board and adopt a resolution stating the city?s interest to expand the district to include Washington Avenue.