Rt. 45 widening will impact water pipeline
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By David Porter
The Tuscola City Council last Tuesday approved a professional services agreement with Chastain Associates for the water pipeline that is shared by Tuscola and Arcola. The agreement is in the amount of $101,560.
The state is widening Rt. 45 between Tolono and Tuscola, which impacts the depth of the water line. On sections of the water line that are not on the state’s right-of-way, any work to be done will be at the state’s expense, said Drew Hoel Tuscola city administrator. But for areas on the state’s right-of-way, the Joint Water Agency (JWA) must pay to have the line moved. The costs are shared between Tuscola and Arcola and come out of the JWA account.
Hoel said total costs for the project are estimated at around $1 million with about 80 percent of that to be reimbursed by the state. However, the JWA will have to pay the upfront costs before reimbursement is made. He said the net cost to the JWA will probably be in the range of $200,000 to $250,000.
Hoel said the JWA has the funds to cover its responsibilities but may need to borrow the upfront funds, which they could do using other city funds. He said he does not expect the work to impact water rates or taxes for Tuscola residents. However, it may impact the JWA’s ability to return excess funds to the two cities.
The City of Arcola approved a similar measure Monday night.
Hoel told the Council, “I told [the state] I didn’t like it.” He said the road is not being widened very much, but the shoulders are dropping off, which has prompted the work. He indicated that he thought the approach was not good considering the impact to the water line. “It’s critical infrastructure for 20,000 people.” Besides the cities of Arcola and Tuscola, the water line provides service west of Arcola and for local industry.
Construction on the highway is expected to start next spring, but the pipeline work would need to be done first.
The Tuscola Council met Tuesday, May 27, due to the Memorial Day holiday.
Also Monday, the Council approved its annual agreement for street maintenance, which includes engineering fees to Jim Crane. Crane is the county engineer and performs engineering work for other communities on a contractual basis.
Under the city’s consent agenda, the Council approved street closures May 30 and June 27 from Pembroke to Sale streets for outdoor movie nights. They also approved a payment of $10,097.30 to Grunloh as a change order on the master meter station (water department). Another change order reduced the city’s cost on the same project by $3,500.
The Council also approved a revised list of summer employees, and Hoel noted that the pool at Ervin Park should be open this week depending on weather.