03-08-2023 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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STAFF REPORT TO: Mayor Fischer and Members of the City Council FROM: Bill Dircks, Public Works Director Chris Heineman, City Administrator DATE: March 8, 2023 RE: Engineering Services Contract Extension with Bolton & Menk ACTION TO BE CONSIDERED: Motion to approve extending the engineering services contract with Bolton & Menk. BACKGROUND: Bolton & Menk was chosen to provide engineering services to Little Canada in 2019. Since that time, they have proven to be very effective in all aspects of engineering. They were able to quickly get the City an upgraded GIS system that is used daily by various staff and they have provided essential support to staff on GPS collection and in selecting our work order software. Bolton & Menk has also provided excellent service related to street projects, parks improvement projects, and other capital improvement projects. They have demonstrated the ability to assist with any infrastructure or planning issues staff has requested assistance on. At the direction of the City Administrator, Bolton & Menk has also been an integral part of numerous successful grant applications various projects which has allowed us to improve three parks/playgrounds, install two large sections of sidewalk/trail, line several sections of sanitary sewer main, and get started on improving the Little Canada Road/Country Drive/35E interchange. Following the retirement of the original City Engineer, Mark Kasma, we experienced a seamless transition to our current City Engineer, Eric Seaburg. Eric has proven to be extremely effective at working with all of the different groups of people involved with the job. He has great rapport with residents and business owners and is able to deal effectively with various contractors, other municipalities, county personnel, and MnDOT. All of that effective communication has led to smooth projects that are completed on time with very few complaints from residents. Another important part of having Bolton & Menk as the consulting engineering firm is the tremendous depth of support the company provides for its clients. Bolton & Menk has experts in all fields of civil engineering which the City has leveraged on projects like the Little Canada Road streetscape project and Phase I of the Pioneer Park upgrade where landscape architects played a significant role in the planning and design process. They have the foremost expert in trenchless sewer and water repair, and he has helped us on our sewer lining projects. And they have engineers who can help the City through all of the red tape involved in an interchange project involving the Federal Highway Administration and MnDOT.