Consider Recommending City Council Approving Plans and Specifications and Authorizing Advertisement for Bids for Fox Ridge Estates 1^st & 2^nd Street Reconstructions, Improvement Project #24-13

Purpose:
The purpose of this case is to consider recommending City Council approving plans and specifications and authorizing advertisement for bids for Fox Ridge Estates 1^st & 2^nd Street Reconstructions, Improvement Project #24-13.
 
Background:
The 2024 – 2033 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) identifies the streets within the Fox Ridge Estates 1^st & 2^nd subdivision for street reconstruction in 2025. A street segment summary for this project is attached to this case.
 
Existing Conditions
The streets are generally 31 feet wide urban section including bituminous curbing, totaling 2.16 miles in length. Traffic counts have not been taken, but Staff anticipates slightly higher than typical neighborhood traffic due to the location of the subdivision, and the possible thru traffic for subdivisions to the west. Fox Park is located on the west side of Potassium Street. Trott Brook Cemetery is located between the northwest corner of Potassium Street and TH 47. Neither the existing park or cemetery are large of enough facilities to increase traffic above normal.
 
Municipal sewer and water do not exist in the project area, and utility extensions to the area are not proposed. Storm sewer runoff is handled by storm sewer inlets and piping, which generally carries stormwater to the existing wetlands in the center of the subdivision. A mix of concrete storm sewer piping (RCP), generally found along Potassium Street, and corrugated metal storm sewer piping (CMP) was found. The RCP was found to be in good condition, and is generally proposed to stay in-place. The CMP was found to be in poor condition and is proposed replaced with RCP.
 
Project History

• 2024 – 2033 Capital Improvement Program – listed as street reconstruction for 2025.
• June 13, 2023, Resolution #23-130, the Ramsey City Council accepted proposals for topographic survey of the project area
• June 27, 2023, Resolution #23-129, the Ramsey City Council accepted proposals for geotechnical report of the project area.
• October 10, 2023, Resolution #23-253, the Ramsey City Council accepted proposals for cleaning and televising of storm sewer pipes within the project area.
• May 8, 2024, Resolution #24-126, the Ramsey City Council ordered plans and specifications for said improvements.
• September 18, 2024, Ramsey Staff held a public open house for said improvements.

 
Pavement History
The streets within Fox Ridge Estates 1^st & 2^nd subdivision were built in 1991. The street received crack seal / seal coat improvements in 1996 and 2007. Public Works Staff has performed patching over the last several years. In 2023 several intersections were included in the high priority mill and overlay improvements, in 2024 the streets were included in the skim patching project.
 
GPR was performed on the streets in 2020, at that time the street averaged 2.5 to 2.9 inches of bituminous over 3.3 to 4.2 inches of aggregate base. Due to the skim patching, an additional 0.5 to 0.75 of bituminous covers the streets.
 
Proposed Improvements
Staff review of the geotechnical report found generally sandy subsoil make up approximately two-thirds of the roadway embankment. The eastern and northern portion of the project will require subsoil corrections due to silt and clay within the roadway embankment. We subsoil corrections are known to be required a 1-foot sand section on top of geotextile fabric is proposed to be placed. This method, which has become the typical soil correction section used on City projects, also requires drain tile to be placed on top of the fabric, to properly drain the pavement section. Staff observes the subgrade material as it is being excavated, and can adjust the subsoil correction areas based on conditions found in the field.
 
The bituminous curbing is proposed to be replaced with surmountable concrete curb and gutter. At driveways, a curb cut similar to what is typically placed in B-Style curb will be placed, to avoid high transition from the roadway to driveways. A review of the existing storm sewer was performed, and the existing storm sewer inlet locations are not proposed to change, though structures will be replaced as necessary. Where storm sewer outlets to the wetlands are located at the top of slope, the project is proposing to extend the outlets as close to the normal water level as practical, this will reduce erosion issues.
 
Restoration of the impacted boulevard areas will include a minimum of 4-inches topsoil and hydroseed with a residential turf seed mix. Though the pavement is generally going back to the same location and elevation, driveway aprons will be replaced to match into the new bituminous pavement as minor changes will occur. In general, driveway aprons will be going back 6 feet to tie the driveways into the new curb and gutter.
 
At the request of the Parks Department, the project includes creating parking stalls at the northeast corner of Potassium Street for future access to the Trott Brook Cemetery. A curb cut will be installed, but a trail or drive to the cemetery is not proposed with this project. The parking stalls and future access are located at City-owned property.
 
Preliminary Schedule Remaining

• Council approves plans and specifications / authorizes ad for bids
  • October 22, 2024 or
  • November 12, 2024
• Staff Receives Bids
  • January 13, 2025
• Council Awards Contract to the Lowest Responsible Bidder
  • January 28, 2025
• Contractor Begins Construction
  • Spring 2025
• Contractor Substantially Completes Construction
  • New bituminous pavement in-place, topsoil and seed in-place
  • August 2, 2025
• Contractor Final Completion
  • Verify final restoration; punch list created
  • August 30, 2025

 
Final 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 title sheet showing the scope of the improvements, as well as a plan sheet showing the typical sections, which includes information on the proposed pavement section. Plans are available upon request from the City Engineer.

Notification is not required for this case. Staff will update the project webpage, to keep residents informed on the progress of the project.

Timeframe:
Staff estimates up to 15 minutes will be needed to present this case and respond to questions.
 
Observations:
The public open house was held on September 18, 2024 at the Elm Crest Park Building. It was attended by ten residents, all from within the Fox Ridge Estates subdivision. No formal comments were received on the comment cards, though Staff will be working with individual residents on localized items such as saving individual trees and adding secondary driveway curb cut locations.  
 
Alternatives:
Alternative #1 – Motion recommending City Council approving plans and specifications and authorizing advertisement for bids for Fox Ridge Estates 1^st & 2^nd Street Reconstructions, Improvement Project #24-13.
 
Alternative #2 – Motion of other.

Funding for this improvement is proposed to come from Pavement Management Funds and Stormwater Utility Funds.
Staff is currently putting together the estimate based on final plans and anticipated 2025 construction costs. The estimate will be provided during the presentation of this case.
 
The CIP level estimate had a total estimated project cost of $3,024,546, which includes street costs of $2,630,040 and storm sewer costs of $394,506. The final project costs may change depending upon bid prices and actual construction quantities.

Staff recommends Alternative #1.

Motion recommending City Council approve plans and specifications and authorize advertisement for bids for Fox Ridge Estates 1^st & 2^nd Street Reconstructions, Improvement Project #24-13.