Engineering contracts approved for major city projects

Engineering contracts have been approved for five large city projects.

City Council in January and February voted to approve several contracts as recommended by Public Works Director Craig Workman. The city public works department this fall advertised for proposals from qualified consulting engineering firms to provide engineering services for a variety of projects to be designed and constructed through 2018.

Five contracts were approved and two remain on the list for future consideration by Council.

The west end of Flathead Avenue currently ends about 375 feet west of O’Brien Avenue. An engineering contract was approved for Robert Peccia & Associates for $51,000 to begin work on an extension of Flathead Avenue that would extend the street through to West 18th Street. Extension of sanitary sewer services is also planned to eliminate the use of the current septic system at the city shop.

“This 500 foot extension of roadway would greatly improve ingress/egress to the city shop by providing a much safer access,” Workman said.

A second project involves replacing the city’s existing sewer line from Greenwood Avenue to Columbia Avenue. The entire project is estimated at $275,000. The city approved a contract with Robert Peccia & Associates for engineering work in the amount of $77,200.

The city has experienced historical maintenance issues and sanitary sewer overflows as a result of significant growth and undersized pipe within the corridor, according to Workman.

Council approved a contract with Morrison-Maierle for engineering work for $48,000 on cast iron water main replacement projects. The budget for engineering and construction of the entire project is $500,000, which includes replacement of small diameter cast iron mains at Third Street west of Jennings Avenue, Fourth Street west of Jennings and Montana Avenue north of Edgewood Place.

“The city has more than 50 miles of water pipelines, some of which are nearly 100 years old, and in need of replacement,” Workman said.

The city approved an engineering contract with WGM Group for $45,658 for work on reconstructing a section of Central Avenue. The budget for the entire project is $627,500.

The plan is to reconstruct the block from East Third Street to East Fourth Street to match the streetscaping design of the rest of the street.

Workman said roadway, curbside parking, sidewalk and crosswalk enhancements will expand Central Avenue retail opportunities.

In addition, the project also calls for tackling the longstanding issue of the Central Avenue “slump” at the south end of the street. The project involves replacing an old cast iron water main between Third and Sixth streets that has had several leaks in past years.

Finally, an evaluation for a south Whitefish water tank was approved with engineering work by AE2S for the first phase of design at a cost not to exceed $30,900. The most recent analysis of the city’s water system indicated that there was adequate capacity to meet maximum daily demand, however, additional storage on the south side of town would significantly increase the system’s ability to meet desired fire flow demands, according to Workman.

“This additional storage capacity has become increasingly important with the recent surge in development along the Highway 93 South corridor,” Workman said.

The first phase of the project includes an update of the city’s water distribution system model. The update will include a comprehensive review and analysis of the daily demands placed on the system. Then the model will be updated for the next phase which includes preliminary storage tank sizing and siting analysis.

The budget for the project is $150,000.

Two other major projects still remain on deck.

Somers Avenue is next on the roadway projects list for resort tax funding. The project includes the reconstruction of Somers Avenue from East Second Street to East Eighth Street.

Armory Road drainage improvements include regrading and reconfiguring the existing drainage ditches on the north side of Armory Road and along the east side of Armory Park.