Abbotsford sees potential price hikes for projects
A planned road project for this summer may end up costing taxpayers from the city of Abbotsford more than they bargained for. At Monday’s April 4 meeting of the Abbotsford City Council, council members received an update on the Linden Street road project.
The city received a grant for the work covering up to 50 percent of the cost, with a cap of $326,113, meaning the project total cost would need to be $652,226 to only pay 50 percent of the cost.
The estimated cost of repairing Linden St. in its entirety is well over $650,000. This will result in a possible scale down of the work, only focusing on the most significant problem areas of the road.
If the project ends up not being done this year, the city will end up patching the road in various spots. This would only be a temporary fix, with the city having to rip up those patches when they would eventually redo the road.
In other public works projects, the city is going to be doing a project in the alley between Sycamore St. and Hemlock St. They plan to install drain tile and catch basins to allow the excess water to drain. It was noted that the lots in the area were not designed with the best precipitation drainage in mind and that in part the city has the topography of the general region working against it.
“We’re in Marathon County, Clark County… it’s just flat land around here,” said Public Works Manager Craig Stuttgen. He also stated that though they’re putting this drain tile in to improve the problem, in the spring it will still freeze and potentially flood. He said the problem will improve, but it is impossible to solve completely.
Dan Borchardt reported that the work to get the planned Cedar St. reconstruction project ready for bid will take place between April and December of this year. The city will pay MSA Professional Services a total of $31,000 for this work. Borchardt also gave updates on other projects that MSA is working with the city on, including the Butternut Street reconstruction - work is scheduled to start around the week of April 25.
MSA is also working on well rehabilitation in the area. There was a required environmental report for the area of the project. He reported that there was a hit on a type of endangered turtle in the area where wells are planned to go.
The wood turtles that will dig in the new gravel and attempt to lay their eggs there. The hope is that the DNR will not have an issue with the well construction, and will not require the city to have special requirements for the project.
“I’d rather not have to put up turtle fencing,” said city Administrator Josh Soyk.
Outdoor recreation plan
The Outdoor Recreation plan was reviewed by the Council. The plan details changes, improvements and additions being added into local parks; along with the cost associated with them.
These updates included the adding of a concession stand and score booth at Red Arrow Park Complex, replacing playground equipment at Shortner Park North, and adding a basketball court and a pickleball court to Schilling Park. Earlier in the meeting, during the Public Works update by Stuttgen, he went through some of the new equipment Schilling Park will be receiving.
These include new basketball hoops made of stainless steel and aluminum. Instead of a clear plastic or glass like many basketball hoops, the backboard will be made of aluminum so it is shatterproof. The basketball hoops will have adjustable height, but it was noted the likelihood is that the city will keep the hoops locked at a certain height.
The council approved the bid from American Fence at over $25,000 for fencing around the pickleball and basketball courts. MSA is heading up this entire project.
During the wastewater update, it was revealed that there was a small leak at the central water plant. The pipe that leaked was insulated in 1997. As the insulation was taken off to fix the leak, they found lots of rust. They are going to go through and take off all of the insulation and try to grind off as much rust as possible, so to avoid future leaks.
The pipes will probably not be reinsulated. The theory at the time was that the insulation would keep the pipes from getting too cold and bursting, but they still do even with the insulation.
There was also an emergency repair on a pump motor at the Linden lift station. It was found that the motor was bad, and needs to be rebuilt, which will cost about $10,000. Both pumps tripped at the Third Avenue lift station station over the weekend of April 2-3 due to them being plugged up.
Alderwoman Lori Huther asked what was plugging the pumps, to which Administrator Soyk responded that it was clogged with mop heads and rags, like usual. He also added that this is an issue everywhere, not just in Abbotsford.
Other business
n The city of Abbotsford has received zero applications for a new wastewater/ water treatment facility operator. Staff recruitment remains a challenge throughout the region.
n The Abbotsford Fire Department put a $75,000 bid in for a tanker that holds approximately 3,500 gallons of water and had 19,000 miles on it. They lost the bid, however. The fire department has an upper limit of $50,000 that they are allowed to bid.
However, it was increased to submit a bid. Mayor Weix said he will be discussing with the fire department board about increasing this limit to $75-80,000 in the future so they do not miss out on getting new and important improvements.
n The Abbotsford Public Library put in a social media policy for staff to help with promotion of events, and sharing of information regarding the library. Accounts that could be created include Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Tik-Tok. n The Abbotsford Public Library is celebrating National Library Week this week with a virtual visit from author Anne Davidson Keller on Wednesday, April 6 at 6:30 p.m. Another virtual author visit from Susan Meissner is scheduled on Tuesday, April 12 at 6:30 p.m. for the library book club.
The PTO Book sale is from Friday, April 8, from 8 a.m.-7 p.m. and on Saturday, April 9 from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.. Also on Friday, April 8 is a Pre-Easter Egg Hunt at 6:30 p.m. Family movie to follow at 7 p.m.
n The cost of Fourth of July fireworks for 2021 was $3,700. The company increased the price for 2022 to $4,625 due to an increased shipping cost of fireworks. The company, J& M Displays, are given a budget by the city that they build off of to create the Fourth of July fireworks display.
The city has $3,700 budgeted for the firework display, but the Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce will pitch in about $1,200 for the display. The city will not end up paying more than the budgeted amount, but “it will look goofy on the budget,” says Soyk.
