WHITEHALL — The Whitehall City Council took further steps toward the completion of various road improvement projects at its regular meeting Tuesday night, unanimously approving four bids from three different companies for those projects.
The most costly of those projects will take place in the Northside neighborhood, which includes Elizabeth, Franklin, Covell, East River, River, Baldwin and Hanson streets. Wadel Stabilization's bid of $1.1721 million for the completion of the project was the lowest of four bids received. The council noted it had been "a while" since Wadel, a Hart business, was awarded a contract with the city, but no one expressed misgivings about contracting with the company.
Unlike the other road construction projects approved Tuesday, the Northside project will be a "crush and reshape." According to city manager Dan Tavernier, this is the second-most expensive method of road construction behind fully reconstructing the road. The Kent County Road Commission's website states that this method takes two weeks per mile to fully complete. Department of Public Works director Don Bond added that water issues in the area will be addressed as part of the project.
Two other road projects were awarded to Michigan Paving. One, in the Industrial Park neighborhood, will cost $282,675, and the second, a 1,650-foot segment of Lake Street which extends from Thompson Street to the trestle bridge, will cost $118,675. Both are "mill and fill" jobs, which are the least expensive methods for road construction, Tavernier said.
Another road project will have West Michigan Sealcoating perform maintenance work, including sealcoating, on seven city-owned parking lots - Hanson Hill, City Hall, the DPW, three parks (Covell, Svensson and Lions), and the marina. The company was the only bidder, at $53,235. Tavernier said he believes this sort of work should be done twice a year.
Another maintenance project was approved, this one for a two-year tree service agreement with Jelinek Tree Service. There was discussion about whether the council should instead approve a bid from Ted's Tree Service, citing its much lower proposed rate for tree trimming ($75 per hour for scheduled trimming compared to $360 per hour from Jelinek), which council member Scott Brown said would likely be the bulk of the work performed. However, Bond cited Jelinek's superior communication during the bid solicitation process, as well as his belief that Jelinek would complete tree trimming jobs quicker due to its larger crews, in recommending the council choose Jelinek. Bond added that the city would likely be scheduling as much work with tree removal as it would tree trimming. The Jelinek bid was then approved unanimously.
After some discussion regarding a lot split proposal on Gibbs Street that would see the city vacate a utility easement, the council decided to table the issue to further examine it. The planning commission previously recommended the council approve the lot split. The landowners, Zach and Megan Aney, own parcels on both sides of Thriftwood Drive, the location of the easement, and requested the split in order to build a fence connecting the two parcels. The easement gives the city the right to construct a road there, though Tavernier said he is unaware of any plans or desire to do so.
Mayor Tom Ziemer, as well as council members Brown and Jeff Holmstrom, each shared their reluctance to vacate the easement without any compensation to the city, which led to the decision to table the issue to look into it further.
Tavernier also provided an update on the Lake Street lift station and road project, saying plans for the work are "90% complete" and that necessary permits were slated to be in by Friday. He noted that an air release valve on the force main was found to be in poor shape and a quote has been requested for the cost of repairing it prior to the beginning of construction.
