Time to pay the piper

Posted 4/07/09 (Tue)

The Velva City Commission met in a special session last Thursday night, April 2, to discuss financing options for the upcoming Main Street project.
The project, set to begin May 1, has been bid out by the DOT, (Department of Transportation), and the city’s share is an estimated $892,852, including the underground work. Mayor Cindy Shattuck also announced the city had received a $96,000 CDBG grant to help pay for the water transmission line, which is part of the already funded water project.
Velva City Engineer Alan Estvold recommended the city bond at $1.1 million to allow for contingencies.
“Underground work is awful,” he noted. “You never know what you’re going to run into. The aggregate work stays pretty steady, but the underground gets iffy.”
Keller Paving has submitted the low bid and subcontracted with Pinky’s Aggregate. The underground bid came in at $555,000.
“This is actually three projects,” Estvold said. “The street paving, the underground sewer and water, and the bike path.”
He noted that his firm would have a project engineer on site everyday inspecting the work to ensure it is up to expectations.
The main focus of Thursday’s meeting was find financing for the Main Street project. (The trails project, consisting of a bike/walking path, will be initially financed by the city but then reimbursed by grants and funds through the project spearheaded by Maria Effertz Hanson of the McHenry County JDA.)