08-13-08 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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MAYOR Bill Blesener ~~ ~ ~ ~~~tt~ ~°ayta~a 515 Little Canada Road, Little Canada, MN 55117-1600 (651) 766-4029 /FAX: (651) 766-4048 www. ci.little-c anad a. mn. us MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor Blesener & Members of the City Council FROM: Joel Hanson, City Administrator DATE: August 8, 2008 RE: Little Canada Road Bridge COUNCIL Rick Montour Barbara Atlan Jolm Keis Michael McGraw ADMINISTRATOR Joel R. [-Ianson One of our goals has been to improve the appearance of the Little Canada Road Bridge over I-35E. We have been working with MnDot to accomplish this objective for a number of months now. They have indicated that installing a new railing and painting the concrete (interior and exterior to Little Canada Road) will run us about $90,000 with MnDot contributing and additional $75,000 for total project costs of $165,000. I mistakenly assumed that this pricing was based on the Unweave the Weave Contract's unit pricing. I have now learned that unit pricing from that contract is not in play and the contractor is determining totally new pricing. Upon further discussion with MnDot staff, it appears the pricing we are being quoted could be as much as 25% over a competitively bid project. I have asked MnDot a series of questions and a summary of what I've learned is as follows: • If we have the project bid, it is virtually certain the project will not be completed in 2008. • If we go ahead with the Unweave the Weave Contractor, there is still a good chance work may not be completed yet this year, especially if we want to achieve price reductions. • If we have the project bid, we will have to start a new process through a cooperative agreement. MnDot's level of cost participation is uncertain, but I hope to have a better indication by Wednesday's meeting. There is enough time to ensure work is done in 2009. • If we have the project bid, we may not attain any savings, depending on market conditions. However, MnDot's bridge engineer did verify that the pricing we were quoted is quite high. • If we have the project bid the project, MnDot may be able to combine it with other similar work thereby creating greater possibilities for savings. At this point in time, MnDot does not know if there are any similar projects planned for the next construction season. Staff would like your direction as to how to proceed with this project. I will update this information at Wednesday's meeting depending on what I learn from MnDot.