Consider Recommending City Council Approving Plans and Specifications and Authorizing Advertisement for Bids for Countryside Estates Street Reconstructions, Improvement Project #26-04

Purpose:
The purpose of this case is to consider recommending City Council approve plans and specifications and authorizing advertisement for bids for Countryside Estates Street Reconstructions, Improvement Project #26-04.
 
Background:
The 2026 – 2035 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) identifies the streets within the Countryside Estates subdivision for street reconstruction in 2026. A street segment summary for the project is attached to this case.
 
Project History

• April 22, 2025, the Ramsey City Council adopted Resolution #25-082, accepting and awarding a proposal to Bolton & Menk for topographic survey of the project area.
• May 13, 2025, the Ramsey City Council adopted Resolution #25-101, accepting and awarding a proposal to Independent Testing Technologies for a geotechnical report of the project area.
• June 17, 2025, the Ramsey Public Works Committee recommended City Council order plans and specifications for said improvements.
• June 24, 2025, the Ramsey City Council adopted Resolution #25-138, ordering plans and specifications for said improvements.
• September 9, 2025, the Ramsey City Council adopted Resolution #25-207, approving additional geotechnical and topographic survey services to include the Wildwood Acres subdivision within the Countryside Estates Street Reconstructions project.
• November 12, 2025, staff held a public open house for property owners impacted by these improvements. The open house was attended by 5 residents.

 
Project Scope
This project proposes to reconstruct the streets within the Countryside Estates and Wildwood Acres subdivision, generally located east of Armstrong Boulevard (CSAH 83) and north of 173^rd Avenue. The streets are 24-foot-wide rural section, totaling 3.93 miles in length. Traffic counts have not been taken within the project area. Drainage is handled through street crossing culverts and drainage swales adjacent to the streets which generally carry runoff to existing wetlands and Anoka County Ditch No. 51.
 
The streets within Countryside Estates were constructed in 1980 and received an overlay in 1995. Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) data taken prior to skim patching shows an average pavement section of 6.5-inches, including 3.2-inches of bituminous and 3.3-inches of aggregate base.
 
The streets within Wildwood Acres were constructed in 1989 and received an overlay in 2008. GPR data shows an average pavement section of 7.1-inches, including 3.6-inches of bituminous and 3.5-inches of aggregate base.
 
Ditch No.51 crosses 176^th Avenue and 176^th Lane, both culvert crossings have been replaced and are not proposed to be replaced as part of this improvement. Televising of the lines to confirm their conditions will be performed. The remaining street crossing culverts within the subdivision are proposed to be replaced and updated to reinforced concrete pipe. Only minor grading of the ditches to tie into the new culverts is proposed.
 
The reconstruction of the streets within Countryside Estates are proposed to be a Full-Depth Reclamation (FDR). Typical impacts of FDR projects including matching into driveways and boulevards approximately 6 to 8 feet from the edge of pavement is anticipated. To achieve the proposed pavement section of 3.5-inches of bituminous over 4.0-inches of aggregate base (made up of recycled FDR material), the project will require over excavating 2-inches of subbase material.
 
The streets within Wildwood Acres are proposed to be reconstructed by reclamation. Typical impacts of reclamation projects include 1 to 2 feet of the boulevard adjacent to the pavement, as required to keep any vegetation and/or topsoil out of the reclamation. Driveway impacts are not anticipated. This process will include reclamation of the existing bituminous and aggregate base, hauling out 2.5-inches of excess reclamation material and replacing with 2.5-inches of new bituminous pavement on top of the in-place reclamation.
 
Restoration of the impacted boulevards will include a minimum of 4-inches topsoil and hydroseed with a residential turf seed mix.
 
Municipal utilities do not exist within the project area, extension of municipal utilities to this subdivision are not proposed as it is outside the 2040 MUSA.
 
Preliminary Schedule Remaining

• Council approves plans and specifications / authorizes ad for bids
  • January 13, 2026
• Staff Receives Bids
  • Week of February 9^th or 16^th, 2026
• Council Awards Contract to the Lowest Responsible Bidder
  • February 24, 2026
• Contractor Begins Construction
  • Spring / Summer 2026
• Contractor Substantially Complete Construction
  • New bituminous pavement in-place, topsoil and seed in-place
  • August 28, 2026
• Contractor Final Completion
  • Verify final restoration; punch list created
  • September 30, 2026

 
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 anticipates 15 minutes will be required to present this case and respond to questions.
 
Observations:
The public open house was held on November 12, 2025 in the Lake Itasca Room, at the Municipal Center. Comments received did not require alteration of the plans and specifications.
 
Alternatives:
Alternative #1 – Motion recommending City Council approving plans and specifications and authorizing advertisement for bids for Countryside Estates Street Reconstructions, Improvement Project #26-04.
 
Alternative #2 – Motion of other.

Funding for this improvement is proposed to come from Pavement Management Funds and Storm Water Utility Funds.
 
Pavement Management Funds            $2,337,824
Storm Water Utility Funds                    $112,609
Total Project Funds                           $2,450,433
 
The CIP level estimate had a total estimated project cost of $2,618,136, which includes street costs of $2,276,640 and storm sewer costs of $341,496. The final project costs may change depending upon bid prices and actual construction quantities.

Staff recommends Alternative #1.

Motion to recommend City Council approve plans and specifications and authorizing advertisement for bids for Countryside Estates Street Reconstructions, Improvement Project #26-04.