Engineering

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needs to be done and how to control those costs going forward.

The project at the center of the billing dispute includes an extension of Linden Street to the east of 11th Street to accommodate expansions by Witmer Furniture, and the establishment of a new road, Grube Drive, going south from Opportunity Drive west of STH 13. They initially started off as separate projects before being combined under one engineering contract.

Stuttgen said he wants to maintain a good working relationship with both MSA and Cedar Corps to ensure the city gets competitive bids for its projects. To guarantee a fair playing field, he said the city cannot allow services such as construction administration to increase way beyond the original bid amount like it did in this latest project.

“That line item should have been ironed out long before we got to that last meeting,” Stuttgen said.

City administrator Josh Soyk said the city needs more detailed options to review when an engineering proposal is presented.

“I think we need a better breakdown of construction administration so we can pick and choose what we actually need from it,” he said.

Borchardt said the challenge on his end is sticking to a number when the scope of a project changes or when the work is delayed and prices go up. He also said the choice of general contractors can have an impact on the final price, as some require more “handholding” than others.

Ald. Jeremiah Zeiset suggested that future engineering contracts include a provision that prices are good for one year and subject to change after that. Stuttgen said he was open to that idea.

In the future, Stuttgen said he was planning on giving both engineering firms a form to fill out with what they believe are the services that will be needed for a project, without including prices. The competing firms will then be able to check either other’s list to see if anything is missing before they submit actual bids.

Soyk said his goal is to see engineering firms bid based on a percentage of the contractor with the lowest bid.

To some extent, though, Zeiset said the city needs to trust its engineering firms to present their best guesses for services without insisting they cover every possible contingency.

“The problem is, if we try to nail everything down ahead of time, you’re going to have to shoot high enough so you’re covered, and we’re probably going to end up paying more in some situations because of that,” he said.

Ultimately, the council approved MSA’s $12,800 contract amendment without formally making changing the way it handles engineering bids.

Other business

■ The council granted a variance request to Paul Jakel, allowing him to build a storage unit within the side-yard setback at his property at 501 East Spruce St. Under the variance, which was recommended by the city’s board of appeals, Jakel will be able to build a 65 by 40 foot mini-storage building to the west of the old Abby Tire building.

■ Ald. Mason Rachu was appointed council president.

■ The council approved committee and commission appointments for 2025-2026, based on recommendations by Mayor Jim Weix. New Ald. Paul Erikson was replaced by citizen Roger Calmes on the planning commission.