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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, October 13, 2014 7:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 15 of 21 PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR/CITY ENGINEER’S REPORT 9. WATERTOWN ROAD AND MSA FUNDING PRELIMINARY DISCUSSION Edwards stated the purpose of this item is to update the City Council on the initial feasibility study for Watertown Road as it relates to some updated costs, a possible course of action to phrase the project over two years, and provide some funding options. Edwards noted back in May of 2014, Bolton & Menk presented a feasibility study for the rehabilitation of Watertown Road and Stubbs Bay Road. The Council at that time had indicated a desire to complete all or a portion of the project in 2015. Since preparation of the study, costs have gone upward due to the increased demand for road work and material costs. The costs have been revised upward to $2.59 million. Due to the costs, it may be preferable to phase the project in over a couple of years. The project has been divided into three sections, with Section 1 including Watertown Road from Turnham Road to Kintyre Lane at a cost of $1,091,344. Section 2 would include Stubbs Bay Road from Watertown Road to Bayside Road at a revised cost of $371,224, and Section 3 would include Watertown Road from Kintyre Lane to 500 feet east of Willow Drive at a cost of $1,136,319. Edwards noted Watertown Road is a state aid road and that the project could be funded through a combination of municipal state aid funds and the City’s Pavement Management Fund. At the current time the City has $1.2 million available for the project and that other funds would need to be moved from other accounts into a street maintenance and reconstruction account to pay for Section 2 and to fund the remaining half of Watertown Road. Edwards noted the fund would be drawn down to zero with this project and that it will take a number of years to rebuild that fund. In order to move forward with the project starting in 2015, Staff would require authorization by the Council to conduct survey and engineering work this fall/winter, complete plans and specifications for advertisement and bidding in the winter/spring. Edwards noted a Council decision would need to be made at the October 27 meeting to allow enough time for the surveying work to be completed prior to winter. Levang noted the cost estimate was revised upward due to the market and asked whether that is anticipated to increase again if the work does not start until next year. David Martini stated the amount of work being done by the contractors was down at the time the feasibility study was prepared, which made for more competitive bids, and that currently there is more demand, which has increased prices. Martini stated prices for blacktop have gone up significantly and that in his view it would be better to get the plans out in January or February to obtain the best price. Levang asked if the length of the road would make it a more favorable job as a contractor. Martini indicated it would and that it would be advantageous to do it as one project or phase it into two projects to get some benefit on unit pricing. Item #02 - CC Agenda - 10/27/2014 Approval of Council Minutes 10/27/14 [Page 15 of 21]