Consider Recommendation for City Council to Accept Bids and Award Contract for MSA Sunwood Drive Reconstruction, Improvement Project #25-02

Purpose:
The purpose of this case is to consider a recommendation for the City Council to accept bids and award a construction contract for MSA Sunwood Drive Reconstruction, Improvement Project #25-02.
 
Background:
The proposed 2025 – 2034 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) identifies Sunwood Drive between Nowthen Boulevard (CSAH 5) and Erkium Street for street reconstruction in 2025. A street segment summary for the project is attached to this case.
 
Existing Conditions
Sunwood Drive between Nowthen Boulevard and Erkium Street is a 40-foot-wide urban section street, totaling 0.20 miles in length. Westbound Sunwood Drive includes a stop condition at Nowthen Boulevard, with a right turn only and a thru and left turn lane. The Average Daily Traffic (ADT) is 1,050. The corridor includes 5-foot wide concrete sidewalk on both sides of the street.
 
City watermain, sanitary sewer, and storm sewer exist within the project area. However, there are no storm sewer inlets in the curb line of this section of Sunwood Drive.
 
Project History

• May 28, 2024, the Ramsey City Council adopted Resolution #24-138, accepting and awarding a proposal to Hakanson Anderson for topographic survey of the project area.
• August 12, 2024, the Ramsey City Council adopted Resolution #24-220, accepting and awarding a proposal to Independent Testing Technologies, Inc. for a geotechnical report of the project area.
• November 12, 2024, the Ramsey City Council adopted Resolution #24-309, accepting and awarding a proposal to Hydro-Klean, LLC for sewer cleaning and televising of the project area.
• November 19, 2024, the Ramsey Public Works Committee recommended City Council order plans and specifications for said improvements.
• November 26, 2024, the Ramsey City Council adopted Resolution #24-338, ordering plans and specifications for said improvements.
• January 13, 2025, bids were publicly opened.

 
Pavement History
This segment of Sunwood Drive was constructed in 1993. The street received crack seal / seal coat improvements in 1998, 2006, and 2013. Public Works staff has performed pavement patching over the last several years.
 
Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) has been performed on this street, indicating an average of 4.2 inches of bituminous over 2.2 inches of aggregate base.
 
Proposed Improvements
Sunwood Drive is a Municipal State Aid (MSA) street and must conform to MSA design standards, including meeting a 10-ton pavement design standard. Because the existing pavement section is only 4.2-inches of bituminous over 2.2-inches aggregate base (6.4-inch total section), the typical full-depth reclamation (FDR) process cannot be used to meet pavement strength design requirements. Staff is proposing to place 4-inches of new bituminous over 6-inches aggregate base. This will be achieved by removing the existing pavement and aggregate base, removing an additional 4-inches of subbase material, and placing 6-inches of new aggregate base and 4-inches of new bituminous pavement. Ideally the new aggregate base will be made of recycled reclamation material, but to allow for the best bidding environment, the project will not require it.
 
The existing concrete curb and gutter is proposed to remain in-place with spot replacements. Per the ADA Transition Plan, existing pedestrian ramps will be updated to current ADA standards. There are 10 such pedestrian ramps within the project area. Replacing the pedestrian ramps will also result in three concrete valley gutters being replaced.
 
Review of the geotechnical report found clean sands, ideal for both utility and pavement support within the project area. Additionally, groundwater is not anticipated to be a concern for the street reconstruction.
 
Improvements to the existing municipal utilities are not anticipated other than a minor improvement to a watermain gate valve identified by the City Utilities Department.
 
Additional Permitting
Sunwood Drive is an MSA street, approval by the MnDOT MSA department was received prior to bidding the project. Because the project goes up to the Anoka County right-of-way, and will require temporary signage within said right-of-way, an Anoka County Highway Department Right-of-Way Permit will be required. No other permits are anticipated. 
 
Preliminary Schedule Remaining

• City Council awards contract to the lowest Responsible Contractor
  • January 28, 2025
• Contractor begins construction
  • Spring / Summer 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

Notification is not required for this case.

Timeframe:
Staff anticipates up to 10 minutes will be required to present this case and answer any questions.
 
Alternatives:
Alternative #1 – Motion to recommend the City Council accept bids and award a construction contract for MSA Sunwood Drive Reconstruction, Improvement Project #25-012 to North Valley, Inc. in the amount of $272,962.90.
 
Alternative #2 – Motion of other.

Funding for this improvement is proposed to come from Municipal State Aid (MSA) Funds and Water Utility Funds.
 
Bids were advertised in the Anoka Union Herald on December 13 and December 20, 2024. On January 13, 2025 a total of ten (10) bids were received, opened, and tabulated, and the following bids were found to comply with the advertisement for bids.
 

Contractor	Total Bid
North Valley, Inc.	$272,962.90
GMH Asphalt Corporation	$276,796.05
Asphalt Surface Technologies Corp.	$299,757.80
Park Construction Company	$307,200.95
Bituminous Roadways Inc.	$317,090.20
Valley Paving, Inc.	$321,960.00
S.M. Hentges & Sons, Inc.	$333,924.00
Knife River Corporation – North Central	$338,807.44
Northwest	$348,750.74
Landall Services LLC	$384,584.00
Engineer’s Estimate	$265,777.50

 
The bid of North Valley, Inc. of Nowthen, Minnesota, in the amount of $272,962.90 for the total bid of said improvements in accordance with the approved plans and specifications and advertisement for bids is the lowest responsible bidder. Adding indirect costs in the amount of 23-percent brings the total project costs to $335,744.37.
 
The low bid is 1-percent higher than the engineer’s estimate, primarily due to higher than anticipated cost as a result of the relatively small project size.
 
Funding Source Breakdown:

Funding Source	Construction Costs	Indirect Costs	Total Costs
MSA Funds	$270,412.12	$62,194.79	$332,606.91
Water Utility Funds	$2,550.78	$586.68	$3,137.46
Project Total	$272,962.90	$62,781.47	$335,744.37

 
The CIP level estimate had a total estimated project cost of $348,450, which includes street costs of $303,000 and storm sewer costs of $45,450. The final project costs may change depending upon the actual construction quantities.
 
Hakanson Anderson submitted a proposal for construction staking of the proposed improvements for a total not-to-exceed amount of $6,500.00. The construction staking is included in the indirect project costs.
 
City staff proposes to administer and inspect construction. Plans and specifications were prepared in-house as part of staff’s normal duties.

Staff recommends Alternative #1.

Motion to recommend the City Council accept bids and award a construction contract for MSA Sunwood Drive Reconstruction, Improvement Project #25-02 to North Valley, Inc. in the amount of $272,962.90.