Before Marthasville aldermen voted to hire a contractor and initiate construction at the site of a future city well and water tank, engineer Ryan Johanning said he wanted to make sure they had fair …
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Before Marthasville aldermen voted to hire a contractor and initiate construction at the site of a future city well and water tank, engineer Ryan Johanning said he wanted to make sure they had fair warning about the cost they’re signing up for.
“About $2.5 million is what we’ve come up with as an estimate,” Johanning told the board of aldermen on Nov. 17. “We wanted you to have a heads up about what to expect if we start with this project.”
That’s a big jump from an old construction cost estimate of $1.4 million. Johanning said the last time an estimate was done was in 2017.
The cost estimate includes an access road, extensive site work, water main construction, well drilling and well house construction, and a massive storage tank of at least 300,000 gallons. The estimate does not include any engineering costs.
Initial construction is expected to begin within the next month.
During their Nov. 17 public meeting, aldermen approved hiring Karrenbrock Excavating to complete the first phase of the project, road construction and site grading, at a cost just shy of $200,000. The contract was awarded with a 3-0 vote, with Alderman Dan Grafrath absent.
Karrenbrock was the low bidder out of four companies competing for the project, Johanning said. The next closest was Kelpe Contracting’s bid of over $209,000.
Mayor David Lange commented that the Karrenbrock company’s recent work includes the groundwork for a 10-acre expansion of the Melton Machine and Control Company in Washington.
Johanning explained that part of the company’s work in Marthasville will be to blast the site of the well and water tank, then back-fill it with rock to ensure the structures have a stable foundation.
Site work should begin within the first half of December and be complete within 120 days, Johanning said.
Aldermen also approved a proposal from Cochran Engineering to serve as the project administrator overseeing the first phase of construction, at a cost of $15,100.
The project administrator works on behalf of the city to ensure construction is being done according to plan, including placement, grading, material, soil compaction and other factors.
Cochran also provided estimates for administrative fees on up to four additional phases to build the well and tank site. The total of their administrative fees for the entire project is estimated at $65,550.
“In the scope of a $2.5 million project, that’s not a lot,” commented Alderman Leo Meyer.
The detailed engineering for those future phases of construction isn’t complete and approved yet. Aldermen said they’ll wait until that information is finalized before approving an oversight contract with Cochran for those phases.
