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A contract was awarded by the Coon Rapids City Council April 4 to build a new water tower to replace an existing structure.
The new 1-million-gallon tower on city-owned property at the southeast corner of Coon Rapids and Foley boulevards will replace the current half-million-gallon tower on Foley, just south of Northdale Boulevard.
The city went out for bids on two alternates, one a fluted steel tower like the one on Hanson Boulevard, with an engineer’s estimate of $6.465 million and the other a composite tower with a concrete base and steel tank, which had an engineer’s estimate of $5.909 million.
But the lowest bidder, Phoenix Fabricators and Erectors, LLC, Avon, Ind., submitted a figure of $7.8 million for the all-steel structure and $5.785 million for the composite tower.
City Engineer Mark Hansen recommended the council approve the Phoenix bid for the composite tower, eliminating one alternate, a mezzanine costing $228,000, while keeping a second alternate, an additional coat of paint on the steel tank costing $25,000, for total of $5.557 million.
A budget of $4.5 million spread over two years, 70% paid in 2023 and the balance in 2024, had been set for the project and $2.3 million was allocated from federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars with the rest coming from the water system utility fund.
But the $3.15 million in the 2023 budget fell short of the $3.9 million contract cost for this year, according to a resolution amending the water fund budget that the council passed following the contract approval.
Under the resolution, $750,000 was appropriated from the 2023 water system capital outlay fund balance to cover this year’s shortfall and $1.657 million will be included in the 2024 budget.
The city will bond for the water system’s share of the project cost, said Public Works Director Tim Himmer.
Chad Katzenberger, of the SEH consulting engineering firm the city retained for project design, engineering and construction services, said that the Foley water tower is aging and in need of substantial repair and rehabilitation, while it was also built with an overflow elevation substantially higher than the other two water towers in the city, which does not allow for efficient operations.
City Manager Matt Stemwedel said that the project goes back 10 years when the comprehensive water system plan was updated to address future needs.
Council Member Sean Novack thanked staff for all the effort and work they had put into this project which will invest now for the long term, not five to 10 years.
“It is near and dear to my heart because of a fire I had at my home,” Novack said.
Council Member Kari Rehrauer said the new tower is the result of long-term planning to address water capacity needs.
“It’s good for 75 years,” she said.
Council Member Brad Greskowiak has been very vocal on this project and has had intense discussions with staff to get to the point where he is ready to support the new tower.
“I have come a long way on this,” Greskowiak said.
The existing Foley tower was built in 1959 and the city has got a lot of use out of it, but the population was 14,000 then and is 63,000 now.
Renovating and rehabilitating the tower at an estimated cost of $2.7 million would only be a short-term fix, while a new tower would address water capacity, pressure and flow needs for many years to come. Renovating the Foley tower does not make sense in addressing future needs, Council Member Jennifer Geisler said.
“The new tower is needed,” she said.
In a related item, the council approved preliminary and final plats for the project, which were recommended by the Coon Rapids Planning Commission.
The tower will take up 1.43 acres of a 5.07-acre parcel, which has a comprehensive plan land use designation of commercial mixed use, with the rest available for future development.
Himmer stated that work will start as soon as the frost is out of the ground. The project will spill into 2024, but the goal is to have the tower structure completed this year with painting and other work to take place next year.
SOURCE: Hometown Source
