Consider Recommending City Council Approving Plans and Specifications and Authorizing Advertisement for Bids for 2025 Neighborhood Pavement Overlay Improvements, Improvement Project #25-07

Purpose:
The purpose of this case is to consider recommending City Council approval of plans and specifications and authorization to advertise for bids for 2025 Neighborhood Pavement Overlay Improvements, Improvement Project #25-07.
 
Background:
The proposed 2025 – 2034 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) identifies numerous public street across the City for pavement mill and overlay improvements in 2025. A street segment summary for the project is attached to this case.
 
Project History

• October 22, 2024, the Ramsey City Council adopted Resolution #24-295, accepting and awarding a proposal to Hakanson Anderson for topographic survey 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 #24-342, ordering plans and specifications for 2025 Neighborhood Pavement Overlay Improvements, Improvement Project #25-07.

 
Project Scope
This project proposes mill and overlay of 3.50 miles of streets across eight (8) subdivisions within the City;

• Ramsey Town Center
• Ramsey Town Center 2^nd
• Ramsey Town Center 4^th
• Ramsey Town Center 6^th
• Ramsey Town Center 7^th
• Ramsey Town Center IP 05-22
• Rum River Hills
• Village of Sunfish Lake

 
The project totals 3.50 miles in length, all proposed areas are urban sections with varying street widths. Staff is not proposing any repairs to watermain or sanitary sewer with this project. Minor storm sewer structure repairs, typically re-grouting catch basins, is proposed. Additionally, pedestrian ramps will be brought up to current ADA compliance. The project includes a total of 69 pedestrian ramp replacements.
 
Ramsey Town Center 7^th
The streets within Ramsey Town Center 7^th; 146^th Avenue between Center Street and Rhinestone Street, and Traprock Street between 146^th Avenue and East Ramsey Parkway, were constructed in 2005 with only the first lift of bituminous pavement. Due to the deteriorated pavement condition, this project includes reclaiming the existing pavement and placing two new lifts of bituminous pavement. During development, funds were received from Greenway Terrace and, more recently, the first phase of Parkside Townhomes, as a cost-share to pay for the wear course bituminous pavement. To date, the City has collected $14,500.00 from Greenway Terrace and $7,700.00 from Parkside Townhomes. Additional wear course fees will be collected as future phases develop with frontage along 146^th Avenue and/or Traprock Street.  
 
Alternate Bid
Twenty-three (23) of the pedestrian ramps proposed to be replaced are connections to the existing trail system within The Draw Park, generally along Ramsey Parkway between Center Street and Ramsey Boulevard. The trail itself still has some useful life remaining, but is showing significant exposed aggregate. Staff proposes to include an alternate bid to mill and overlay the bituminous trails within The Draw Park. There are approximately 1,625 linear feet of trails. Overlaying the trails is not included within the CIP, and does not qualify to use Pavement Management Funds. Staff is proposing to use a portion of the $126,000 budgeted trail maintenance funds to pay for the alternate bid.
 
Radium Street Medians
The Village of Sunfish Lake subdivision includes Radium Street between 146^th Avenue and Sunwood Drive. Radium Street includes five (5) 12-foot-wide raised median islands with landscaping made up of a mix of landscape rock, flowers, shrubs and trees.
 
The median islands are owned by the city. However, the Home-Owners Association (HOA) has performed landscaping and irrigation system maintenance in the past. Over recent years, the city has removed most of the ash trees from the medians.  The HOA recently inquired if the city can maintain the median islands, which would include repairing the inoperable irrigation system and replanting trees and/or shrubs. No formal agreement exists between the HOA and the city for maintaining the median islands so future maintenance of the median islands will likely fall on the city.
 
Annual estimated costs for the city to maintain the five Radium Street median islands range between $25,000 and $50,000, including staff time and equipment required to replace curb and gutter sections damaged by snow plows, replace cutting edges and curb runners on city snow plows, repair and maintain the irrigation system, and maintain and replant trees and/or shrubs.  Therefore, city staff recommend removing the median islands and paving the voids to form a continuous pavement mat. After paving the median island voids, Radium Street would be 39 feet wide as measured from the face of curb on each side. This is wide enough to allow for two lanes of traffic and parking on both sides of the street.

At this time, staff believe the HOA will support the removal of the five median islands as the HOA's representative inquired if the city would consider removing the median islands, and recently informed staff that the HOA will discuss this option during their next Board meeting in late April and will inform city staff afterwards whether the Board supports removal of the median islands.

Staff estimates project costs to remove the median islands at $98,500. Staff does not consider Pavement Management Funds as an appropriate funding source for this work, and would recommend using Public Improvement Revolving (PIR) funds, which have a sufficient balance to cover this work.
 
The plans do not currently include removing the median islands.  Staff is requesting a recommendation from the Public Works Committee whether said improvements should be added to the overlay plans prior to bidding.
 
Preliminary Schedule Remaining

• Council approves plans and specifications / authorizes ad for bids
  • April 22, 2025
• Staff Receives Bids
  • May 21, 2025
• Council Awards Contract to the Lowest Responsible Bidder
  • May 27, 2025
• Contractor Begins Construction
  • Summer 2025
• Contractor Substantially Completes Construction
  • New bituminous in-place
  • August 30, 2025
• Contractor Final Completion
  • Verify final restoration; punch list created
  • September 27, 2025

Notification is not required for this case.

Timeframe:
Staff anticipates up to 15 minutes will be required to present and discuss this case.
 
Alternatives:
Alternative #1 – Motion recommending City Council approving plans and specifications and authorizing advertisement for bids for 2025 Neighborhood Pavement Overlay Improvements, Improvement Project #25-07, with the alternate bid.
 
Alternative #2 – Motion recommending City Council approving plans and specifications and authorizing advertisement for bids for 2025 Neighborhood Pavement Overlay Improvements, Improvement Project #25-07, without the alternate bid.
 
Alternative #3 – Motion of other.

Funding for this improvement is proposed to come from Pavement Management Funds and Storm Water Utility Funds. The alternative bid trail improvements are anticipated to be funded through budgeted 2025 Trail Maintenance Funds. Estimated costs below include 14-percent indirect costs. The final project costs may change from the estimate depending upon bid prices and actual construction quantities.
 

Funding Source	Estimated Project Costs	CIP Project Costs
Pavement Management Funds	$1,282,167.25	$1,047,111
Storm Sewer Utility Funds	$34,096.36	$69,190
Total Project Costs	$1,316,263.61	$1,130,801
Alt Bid Trail (Budgeted Maint.)	$98,678.40	-
Project Total w/Alt Bid	$1,414,942.01

Staff recommends alternative #1.

Motion recommending City Council approval of plans and specifications and authorization to advertise for bids for 2025 Neighborhood Pavement Overlay Improvements, Improvement Project #25-07, with the alternate bid.