By By MIKE VOSS
mike@wdnweb.com
Contributing Editor
Washington’s City Council could authorize the city manager to sign a $3.8 million contract for stormwater improvements throughout the city.
The tentative agenda for the council’s meeting Monday indicates the contract would go to T.A. Loving Co. City staff and Loving officials have been negotiating details of the contract.
The project calls for improvements in the Jack’s Creek drainage basin from a point just south of Eight Street southward and eastward toward Park Drive and the Northwood Road area of the Smallwood subdivision, according to the agenda.
The Jack’s Creek portion of the project calls for replacing the culvert at the intersection of Seventh and Harvey streets, removing or upgrading the culvert between Seventh Street and John Small Avenue and installing a submersible pump at the Jack’s Creek stormwater pump station.
The Smallwood improvements call for replacing the pipe in the Northwood Road area near Rowan Place and Eden Drive with a larger pipe and replacing pipes under and/or along Reed Drive, Alderson Road and Lawson Road. The ditch east of South Reed Drive to Keysville Road will be improved.
The Airport Canal drainage area will realized additional storage capacity in swales in and around Heritage Park, silt removed from sections of the canal bottom and culverts under the Wilco-Hess station and Grimes farm path replaced.
The council also is expected to discuss awarding a $19,350 contract to Mark Smith Architect for site-management services at the Festival Park site.
“The ‘Festival’ Park Planning Team has been working with designs for structures and surveying this park site, while all the time staying within the scope of the recommendations from the LandDesign’s plan. For the construction phase we will need a professional to compile RFPs (requests for proposals), assist with the bidding/tabulations and communicating with contractors as work progresses,” reads a memorandum from Philip Mobley, the city’s parks and recreation director, to the mayor and council.
The memorandum states the park project will be divided into two phases. The first phase consists of construction of an events stage, picnic shelter and “Grasscrete” walkways and driveways, according to the memorandum. It also includes foundation engineering, concrete pouring, footings, masonry, electrical panels and other related work. The first phase should be completed by early in the spring of 2011.
The memorandum does not provide details for the second phase of the project.
The council meets at 5:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall, 102. E. Second St. The council’s entire tentative agenda may be viewed by visiting the city’s website at www.ci.washington.nc.us. Click on the “website map” item under the menu on the left, then click on the “meeting agendas” section under the “city government” heading. The agenda will be under the listing for the City Council.