Repair work on the Willow St. overpass will start soon and Union Pacific Railroad expects the city to pay for an independent engineer to review the work.

City Engineer Brent Burklund said it is standard operating procedure for Union Pacific to require an engineer to review work related to railroad tracks. Councilman Pete Volz asked if Union Pacific was charging the city for a duplicate review, since the city already has an engineer to review the work.

Burklund said the city engineer looks at the project from the perspective of the repairs that will be made, while the Union Pacific engineer will look at the project from the perspective of the impacts on the movement of trains.

Volz asked what the price would be, and Burklund said the contract is for as much as $30,000, but an hourly rate would be charged.

Councilman Brad Garrick asked about the average review cost; Burklund said it varies greatly but would be at most $30,000.

Councilman Ty Lucas asked if there the city owns the right-of-way for the overpass; Burklund said, no, it is just an easement since the railroad was there first.

Lucas asked what would happen if the city refused to pay. Burklund deferred to City Attorney Bill Troshynski, who said he found nothing requiring the city to enter such an agreement.

Troshynski did say there could be a requirement connected to the easement, but from what he understands currently, the easement is straightforward with no additional requirements.

Burklund said the city could do more research into the agreement before future work begins on the Buffalo Bill and Poplar overpasses.

Ultimately, the council approved the agreement by a 6-1 vote. Lucas voted no. Councilman Ed Rieker was not present. 

Rezoning

The council, in a move to further the city’s development, voted to waive the requirement for a third and final reading of an ordinance to rezone 2401 East Second St. from an R-M mobile home district to an R-3 dwelling district, and adopt ordinance 4167. The rezoning, along with approval of the property’s replat, paves the way for a new residential area. 

Wastewater treatment

The council voted to authorize Mayor Brandon Kelliher to negotiate contracts with Rice Lake West to amend the design-build contract for an industrial wastewater treatment plant for the Sustainable Beef plant.

On Aug. 1, the council selected Rice Lake West for the project.

Since signing the original agreement, Rice Lake West has changed the firm to do the engineering work, which changes the schedule and design. The amendment to the contract includes an additional charge of $211,960 for engineering, schedule refinement, phasing, and equipment procurement; removing and replacing the construction schedule and associated days; known early bid packages; modifying general conditions to fit the current project scope and schedule; updating multiple areas of the contract caused by editing the previous items.

The vote was unanimous in favor of the addendum.

In other business, the council approved:   

• The purchase of two Freightliner M2-106 chassis with 20-yard Labrie Expert side-arm garbage trucks from Sanitation Products, Inc. The total cost will be $683,718. The two trucks these will replace will be put up for sale to recoup some of the cost. 
• Issuing warrants to Myers Construction, Inc. for $371,336.62 and Level, LLC for $41,631.34 for construction work.  
• The sale and consumption of alcoholic liquor on the 100 block of N. Bailey for a street dance during Platte River Cruise Night on July 6.
• The special designated liquor license for the Bottle Shop on July 6, from 6-11 p.m., when it will be used for Platte River Cruise night. 
• The minutes of the June 4 meeting.
• Payment of the claims (the bills).

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