Groundwork is nearing completion and contractors are preparing to begin drilling the city of Marthasville’s new well, which will feed a tank large enough to supply water to the whole city with capacity to spare. At the same time, the city government is moving toward securing a contract for $1.8 million in financing for the well project and other water system upgrades.

David Van Leer, one of the project managers with Cochran Engineering, gave an update on the project during the April 20 Marthasville Board of Alderman meeting. He said contractor Karrenbrock Excavating was behind schedule grading the site for the well and tank due to rain. Van Leer said Karrenbrock was originally scheduled to finish their work on April 12, but had requested an extension to May 8.

“There’s a lot of work left to do up there, but they assure us they can be complete by May 8,” Van Leer commented.

Aldermen agreed to grant the extension in time, at which point Mayor David Lange commented that the city had previously given well drilling contractor Flynn Drilling a notice to proceed with their work starting May 9. Van Leer said that hard deadline would hold Karrenbrock’s feet to the fire to finish on time or risk financial penalties for delaying the rest of the project.

An early May start date puts completion of the underground well in early July, at which time contractors KJ Unnerstall Construction and Pittsburg Tank & Tower Group could proceed with construction of a well house and 300,000-gallon water storage tank, respectively.

Total project completion should be done in the fall, Van Leer said.
However, Van Leer made aldermen aware of one snag in that project plan: Due to a delay in contracts being approved by the board of aldermen earlier this year, KJ Unnerstall had received a cost markup from the company’s materials supplier. The contractor asked aldermen to agree to an $8,821 price increase in order to finalize the contract for well house construction.

Van Leer said the price increase exactly matched the escalation in price quotes from KJ Unnerstall’s material supplier.

Aldermen spent a fair amount of time debating whether to approve the increased price, or whether to hold KJ Unnerstall to the bid that the contractor submitted on the project. Although aldermen noted that the project bid price was supposed to be guaranteed for 60 days after submission, the board eventually relented and granted KJ Unnerstall’s request.

To do otherwise would have risked the contractor declining the project altogether. That could have sent the city looking for a new contractor and paying far more than an $8,800 markup.

Bond financing

Aldermen also approved the Stifel Nicolaus financial firm to arrange bond financing for the well project and several upcoming water main projects. Bonds are a type of loan that the city would repay using water service fees.

Aldermen voted 4-0 to have Stifel arrange a 15-year bond financing agreement with First State Community Bank to provide $1.8 million for construction. Stifel’s fee for the service is $17,500.

Mayor Lange said First State Community Bank has expressed significant interest in financing the water system improvements.
A formal bond issuance will have to be approved by aldermen at a future public meeting.