Adopt Resolution #24-139 Accepting Bids and Awarding Contract for 2024 NE Ramsey Street Reconstructions, Improvement Project #24-03

Purpose:
The purpose of this case is to adopt Resolution #24-139 accepting bids and awarding a contract for 2024 NE Ramsey Street Reconstructions, Improvement Project #24-03.
 
Background:
The 2024 – 2033 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.
• April 16, 2024, the Ramsey Public Works Committee considered recommending City Council approval of plans and specifications and authorizing advertisement for bids.
• April 23, 2024, Resolution #24-109, the Ramsey City Council approved plans and specifications and authorized advertisement for bids.
• May 20, 2024, bids were publicly opened via a Zoom online meeting.
• May 21, 2024, the Nowthen held the public hearing for Roger Lake Road Project (Alternative Bid), and recommended award of the alternative bid, to be paid for by the City of Nowthen.

 
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 is located just outside the 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 their respective 26-foot wide and 30-foot wide urban sections. The bituminous curb will be replaced with surmountable concrete curb and gutter. The alignments and profiles 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-inches. 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 awards contract to the lowest responsible bidder
  • May 28, 2024
  • Coordinating award with the City of Nowthen
• Contractor begins construction
  • On or around July 1, 2024 (dependent on Contractor’s schedule)
• Substantial Completion
  • September 30, 2024
  • Final lift of bituminous pavement in-place, boulevard restoration in-place
• Final Completion
  • June 30, 2025
  • Verify final turf establishment, project clean up complete
  • Not enough time in the fall for turf establishment to take place after the substantial completion date.

 
The proposed improvements are designated as City Improvement Project #24-03, 2024 NE Ramsey Street Reconstructions.

If Council accepts the bids and awards a contract for construction of the improvements, letters will be mailed to property owners with updates on the project status. Engineering Staff maintains City Improvement project webpages with the most current project information under the Engineering Department webpage on the City’s website.

Timeframe:
Staff estimates up to 10 minutes will be needed to present this case and respond to questions.
 
Alternatives:
Alternative #1 – Motion to adopt Resolution #24-139 accepting bids and awarding a contract for 2024 NE Ramsey Street Reconstructions, Improvement Project #24-03, to GMH Asphalt Corporation for the total bid in the amount of $2,441,039.52.
 
Alternative #2 – Motion to adopt Resolution #24-139 accepting bids and awarding a contract for 2024 NE Ramsey Street Reconstructions, Improvement Project #24-03, to GMH Asphalt Corporation for the base bid in the amount of $2,034,319.94.
 
Alternative #3 – Motion of other.

Funding for these improvements are proposed to come from a combination of Pavement Management Funds, Storm Sewer Utility Funds, and City of Nowthen Funds.
 
On May 20, 2024 a total of seven (7) bids were received, opened and tabulated, and the following bids were found to comply with the advertisement for bids.
 

Contractor	Base Bid	Alternative Bid	Total Bid
GMH Asphalt Corporation	$2,034,319.94	$406,719.58	$2,441,039.52
Douglas-Kerr Underground L.L.C.	$2,068,170.69	$451,467.27	$2,519,637.96
Veit & Company, Inc.	$2,265,208.79	$485,218.58	$2,750,427.37
Park Construction Company	$2,480,360.27	$463,200.53	$2,943,560.80
Meyer Contracting Inc.	$2,577,732.36	$469,319.00	$3,047,051.36
Northwest Asphalt	$2,612,321.36	$521,935.49	$3,134,256.85
North Valley, Inc.	$2,689,363.33	$474,092.37	$3,163,455.70
Engineer’s Estimate	$2,972,455.04	$488,112.50	$3,460,567.54

 
The bid of GMH Asphalt Corporation of Chaska, Minnesota, in the amount of $2,441,039.52 for said improvements in accordance with the approved plans and specifications and advertisement for bids, is the lowest responsible bidder. The City of Ramsey portion, base bid, is $2,034,319.94.
 
Adding indirect costs in the amount of 23-percent, brings the total City of Ramsey project costs to $2,502,213.53. The high level 2024 – 2033 CIP estimated total project costs were $2,552,448 for these improvements.
 
The low bid is 29-percent below the engineer’s estimate. Bidding was competitive, with all bids being below the engineer’s estimate.
 
Funding source breakdown.
 

Funding Source	Construction Costs	Indirect Costs	Total Costs
Pavement Management Funds	$1,843,626.44	$424,034.08	$2,267,660.52
Storm Sewer Utility Funds	$190,693.50	$43,859.51	$234,553.01
City of Nowthen Funds	$406,719.58	-	$406,719.58
Project Total Funds	$2,441,039.52	$467,893.59	$2,908,933.11
*City of Ramsey Total Project Funds			$2,502,213.53

 
Hakanson Anderson submitted a proposal for construction services including; construction administration, construction staking, and construction observation for a total not-to-exceed amount of $134,000.00. The construction services are included in the indirect project costs. The City of Nowthen is responsible for providing construction services for their portion of the project, at their cost.
 
Of the total project costs, approximately $593,000 are associated with the subsoil corrections required as part of the Rodeo Hills Estates and Valley View Acres reconstructions. The engineer’s estimate placed a cost of $1,379,000 on subsoil corrections.

Per the recommendation letter attached to this case, the Hakanson Anderson Project Engineer, Shane Nelson, recommends award of the contract to the low bidder, GMH Asphalt Corporation.
 
The Nowthen City Council passed a resolution on Tuesday, May 21, 2024 accepting bids and awarding a contract to GMH Asphalt, pending award of a contract by the City of Ramsey. The City of Nowthen supports awards of this project.
 
Staff recommends Alternative #1.

Motion to adopt Resolution #24-139 accepting bids and awarding a contract for 2024 NE Ramsey Street Reconstructions, Improvement Project #24-03, to GMH Asphalt Corporation for the total bid in the amount of $2,441,039.52.