Consider recommending City Council approving plans and specifications and authorizing advertisement for bids for 2024 NE Ramsey Street Reconstructions, Improvement Project #24-03

Purpose:
The purpose of this case is to consider recommending City Council approving plans and specifications and authorizing advertisement for bids for 2024 NE Ramsey Street Reconstructions, Improvement Project #24-03.
 
Background:
The 2023 – 2032 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) identifies the streets within the Ford Brook Estates 3^rd, Rodeo Hills Estates, Valley View Acres, and Section 01 Unplatted north of CR 27 subdivisions for street reconstruction in 2024. A street segment summary for these improvements is attached to this case.
 
Project History

• August 22, 2023, Resolution #23-199, the Ramsey City Council executed a proposal from Hakanson Anderson to prepare final plans and specifications for 2024 NE Ramsey Street Reconstructions.
• November 14, 2023, Resolution #23-279, the Ramsey City Council accepted a proposal from Haugo Geotechnical Services, LLC to prepare a geotechnical report of the project area.
• January 23, 2024, Resolution #24-032, the Ramsey City Council approved the Joint Powers Agreement with the City of Nowthen to bid the City of Ramsey and City of Nowthen streets together, as part of Improvement Project #24-03.

 
Pavement History
This project encompasses 4 subdivisions, all generally located in northeastern Ramsey. The streets were built at varying times between 1982 and 2001. The only subdivision which received an overlay improvement was Rodeo Hills Estates in 1998, 16 years after its construction. All streets have received two crack seal / seal coat improvements since construction, or overlay in the case of Rodeo Hills Estates, with the latest being in 2012. Maintenance crews have performed patching over the last several years, including extensive patching in 2023. More detailed information on the pavement history is included in the street segment summary attached to this case.
 
Existing Conditions
Ford Brook Estates 3^rd is 0.43 miles of 30-foot wide urban section including bituminous curbing. The existing pavement section is approximately 2-inches of bituminous over 4-inches aggregate base. Storm water runoff is directed to bituminous flumes, which flow runoff through existing drainage and utility easements to stormwater basin, and eventually the surrounding wetlands. The subdivision is made up of 13 single family home lots, approximately 2 to 2.5 acres, zoned rural residential. Municipal water and sewer do not exist in the area, which is located well outside of the 2040 MUSA boundary.
 
Rodeo Hills Estates is 1.16 miles of 24-foot wide rural section. The existing pavement section is approximately 4-inches of bituminous over 3-inches of aggregate base. The geotechnical report found much of the subdivision to have poor soils under the pavement, including silt and clay, which will require subsoil corrections. Storm water runoff is directed into drainage swales adjacent to the street, which ultimately direct runoff to the county ditch which cuts east to west across the plat, and finally to Ford Brook, which is adjacent to the east. The subdivision is made up of 41 single family home lots and one park lot which is unimproved, approximately 1 acre, zoned rural residential. Municipal water and sewer do not exist in the area, which located on the outside edge of the 2040 MUSA boundary.
 
Valley View Acres includes the 0.02 (126-foot) 178^th Lane cul-de-sac, which extends west off of Vanadium Street (Rodeo Hills Estates). This is 24-foot wide rural section. Per the geotechnical report the existing pavement section is approximately 1.75-inches of bituminous over 3-inches of aggregate base. The base below the pavement section was found to be silty clayey sand over lean to fat clay, which will require subsoil corrections. Storm water runoff is directed into drainage swales adjacent to the street, which direct runoff to the Rodeo Hills Estates subdivision to the east. The subdivision is made up of 3 single family home lots, approximately 10 acres, zoned MUSA reserved. Municipal water and sewer do not exist in the area, though this is the northeastern edge of the 2040 MUSA boundary, there are no current plans to extend services.
 
Section 01 Unplatted (North of CR 27) is 0.35 miles of 26-foot wide urban section including bituminous curbing. The pavement section is approximately 2.5-inches of bituminous over 4-inches of aggregate base. Storm water runoff is directed to bituminous flumes, which flow runoff through existing drainage and utility easements to wetlands north in the City of Nowthen, and eventually into Rogers Lake. The subdivision is made up of 14 single family home lots varying between approximately 0.5 and 4.5 acres, zoned rural residential. Municipal water and sewer do not exist in the area, which is located well outside of the 2040 MUSA boundary.
 
Proposed Improvements
Ford Brook Estates 3^rd and Section 01 Unplatted are proposed to be reconstructed back to a 30-foot wide urban section. The bituminous curb will be replaced with surmountable concrete curb and gutter. The alignment and profile are generally matching existing. Storm sewer inlet and pipe will collect runoff at the same low points, and direct to the same outfalls. The proposed pavement section is proposed to be 6-inches aggregate base below 3.5-inches of new bituminous pavement. This is proposed to be achieved by the Full-Depth Reclamation (FDR) process;

• Reclaiming (grinding up) the existing bituminous and aggregate base
• Installation of storm sewer inlets and piping at the low points
• Hauling and stockpiling the reclaim material (typically stockpiled on site)
• Excavating approximately 3-inches of sand
  • Required to make room for the new thicker pavement section without raising the road profile
  • Sand is proposed to be kept by the City for use on future projects or fill
• Placing 6-inches of the recycled reclaim material (aggregate base)
• Placing the new concrete curb and gutter
• Placing first lift of new bituminous pavement
• Replacing driveway aprons (matching existing material)
• Restoring the impacted boulevard areas behind the new curb and gutter
  • Minimum 4” topsoil and hydroseed with residential turf seed
• Placing the final lift of new bituminous pavement (3.5-inches total)

 
Rodeo Hills Estates and Valley View Acres are proposed to be reconstructed back to a 24-foot wide rural section. The alignment and profile are generally matching existing. The drainage swales adjacent to the streets are generally not proposed to be re-graded as part of the project. The existing subsoils are generally poor and require subsoil corrections. The subsoil corrections are proposed to consist of 12-inches select granular (clean sand) placed on top of geotextile fabric. Drain tile will be placed at the edge of pavement along much of the subsoil correction to help keep water out of the subbase material. The new pavement section placed on top of this is proposed to be 8-inches of aggregate base below 3.5-inches new bituminous pavement.
 
The reconstruction process is similar to the FDR process except the excavation depth will be approximately 18-inches rather than 3. The material is not considered clean because it contains silt and clay, and will become property of the Contractor. The geotextile fabric is placed to separate the poor underlying soils from the aggregate base. The extra aggregate base thickness along with the 1-foot of sand build additional strength to help the pavement bridge the poor soils. During construction, the Contractor will only sub-cut out what they can backfill to aggregate base by the end of the work day. On similar projects this has been 300 to 400 feet per day.
 
Preliminary Schedule Remaining

• Council approves plans and specifications / authorizes advertisement for bids
  • April 23, 2024
• Hakanson Anderson receives bids
  • May 20, 2024
• Council awards contract to the lowest responsible bidder
  • May 28 or June 14, 2024
  • Need to coordinate award with City of Nowthen
• Contractor begins construction
  • Early summer 2024
• Substantial Completion
  • Late September 2024
• Final Completion
  • Fall 2024

 
Full plans are not attached to this case to prevent potential bidders from downloading plans attached to the case to prepare and submit their bids, rather than purchasing the plans through QuestCDN, the electronic bidding software used by the City of Ramsey. This ensures all bidders are bidding off the same set of plans, and all bidders are notified of any plan revisions (addenda) issued during the bidding process. Attached is the plan sheet showing the typical sections, which includes information on the proposed pavement sections. Plans are available upon request from the City Engineer.

Notifications are not required with this case.

Timeframe:
Staff estimates 20 minutes will be needed to present this case and respond to questions.
 
Observations:
Per the approved Joint Powers Agreement with the City of Nowthen, which is bidding our projects together. The City of Nowthen is being given the chance to review the bids and vote on awarding their portion of the project, prior to an award to the Contractor. The project will be bid as an A+B, so if the City of Nowthen decides not to move forward, only the City of Ramsey portion of the project shall be awarded. Both cities are fully responsible for all construction and project costs associated with the work within their city limits. The Nowthen City Council met on Tuesday, April 9, 2024 and approved the City of Nowthen’s portion of the final plans and specifications and authorized advertisement for bids. Additionally, calling for an assessment hearing and special City Council meeting for May 21, 2024.
 
Alternatives:
Alternative #1 – Motion to recommend City Council approve plans and specifications and authorize advertisement for bids for 2024 NE Ramsey Street Reconstructions, Improvement Project #24-03.
 
Alternative #2 – Motion of other.

Funding for these improvements are proposed to come from a combination of Pavement Management Funds and Storm Sewer Utility Funds. Funds below include 23-percent indirect costs for administrative, engineering, finance, and legal costs, based upon the engineer’s estimate completed by Hakanson Anderson.
 

• Pavement Management Funds           $3,002,217.17
• Storm Sewer Utility Funds                 $653,902.53
• Total Estimate Project Costs           $3,656,119.70

 
Of the total project costs, approximately $1,379,000 are associated with the subsoil corrections required as part of the Rodeo Hills Estates and Valley View Acres reconstructions.
 
The City of Nowthen project is estimated to cost $600,379, and will be funded by the City of Nowthen.

Staff recommends Alternative #1.

Motion to recommend City Council approve plans and specifications and authorize advertisement for bids for 2024 NE Ramsey Street Reconstructions, Improvement Project #24-03.