BY SCOTT SULLIVAN
EDITOR
Dig in, who knows what you’ll find? Such is the case with Campbell Road improvements being shared by Saugatuck and Douglas, project engineers say.
Saugatuck’s council Monday approved the city’s additional $17,400 share of the $39,500 added engineering services Fleis & VandenBrink’s Jon Moxey said will be needed to complete water line installation.
Douglas will be asked to pay the balance based on its 56 percent (to Saugatuck’s 44) total cost split, agreed to as the project’s western portion near McVea Drive lies entirely in its limits.
Campbell, on the city line west from Park/Ferry streets up a grade to McVea, has long needed work. The 2,300-foot stretch has been identified by PASER (Pavement Surfacing Ratings‚ as in “failed” condition, requiring reconstruction.
The total project estimated cost (engineering and actual construction) was estimated two years ago at $850,000, a figure which has not dropped since then.
The cities jointly applied three times for a Michigan Department of Transportation Economic Development Category B Program grant, available for as much as $250,000 given 50-percent local matching, but did not receive one.
Last fall, with Campbell continuing to deteriorate, they decided to pay for the work themselves. Because it involves water main replacement identified in the water asset management plan, none of the project cost will be passed onto homeowners as a special assessment.
To avoid major construction during peak tourism season, the project was split into two phases — water main and service line replacement in fall 2021 and resurfacing this spring.
Both cities know from costly experience replacing old, scantly-documented underground lines can unearth complications. Campbell’s surface was milled last fall and work started on replacing and upsizing the water main using open trenching and boring, plus replacing lead and galvanized service lines.
Where lead services were found, line replacement has extended up to and in some cases into homes, requiring the cooperation of homeowners but not being a cost to them.
The hope was to substantially complete this in time for a frozen-earth winter shutdown. Fleis’ contract with the cities included cost contingencies — ones now being asked for — should more issues than expected be unearthed..
“Water line installation,” Moxey wrote both cities March 22, “took much longer than originally anticipated in our construction engineering proposal dated Oct. 1, 2021.
“The budget included in that proposal assumed a 12-week construction period with water main and service work taking place in November/December and road work in April/May with a winter shutdown between,” he continued.
“As soon as we saw that the contractor’s progress was not in line with our assumption, we reduced hours and were able to stretch the original 12-week budget to approximately 16 weeks,” he continued.
“The water main work has taken long enough that the only winter shutdown consisted of the week between Christmas and New Year’s, one cold weather week and individual days totaling approximately one more week.”
“Three of the four water main tie-ins are complete,” Moxie updated council Monday. “The fourth will be made after all the services have been switched over to the new main.
“Water service replacement work is underway. We are coordinating with the last few property owners to determine which lines need to be replaced all the way to the homes.
“Based on the contractor’s progress to date, we anticipate water service work to run through mid-April and road restoration work to be completed around the May 26 substantial completion date for the project,” Moxey said.
Fleis originally estimated additional onsite construction administration, observation and testing for 24 weeks would cost the cities $71,400, but agreed to waive $32,000 worth of project management time (which it now estimates will take 27 weeks) starting March 21, dropping that total increase to $39,500.
As such, Fleis’ total engineering costs rise from the $96,800 first estimated to $136,300, with Douglas paying $76,300 and Saugatuck $60,000, again per the split agreement.
“Many lessons (have been) learned from this project considering the numerous water and road repairs going forward,” Saugatuck City Manager Ryan Heise said.
