The Albert Lea City Council on Monday awarded a $1.36 million contract to Sorensen Brothers of Albert Lea for the repair of a force main from the city’s main lift station to the wastewater treatment plant.
The project will be paid out of the sewer fund, City Manager Jim Norman said.
He said two major segments of the force main were found to have corroded signficantly over the winter months, so to fix this problem about 5,100 feet of the 36-inch sanitary sewer will need to be replaced.
The force main from the main lift station to the wastewater treatment plant is about 23,000 feet long and contains raw wastewater to the plant.
The city received four bids for the project ranging from Sorensen Brother’s bid of about $1.36 million to a bid of $2.58 million from Super Excavators out of Menomonee Falls, Wis.
The engineer’s estimate was about $2.04 million.
Council members expressed they were pleased a local company was awarded the project.
In other action, the council:
• Approved a resolution supporting a transportation grant submitted through the Minnesota Department of Transportation to the federal government.
Norman said MnDOT is making an application including seven communities in the state, of which Albert Lea is a part. The total MnDOT grant application is about $90 million.
For Albert Lea’s portion, the grant is requesting money for the North Broadway Avenue street design and reconstruction, as well as a plaza that would go next to the Freeborn National Bank Building and a parking structure behind the same building.
Fifth Ward Councilor Larry Anderson said in a conference about the grants, many of the leaders from other communities and the state looked highly on the Albert Lea community primarily because of its vitality initiatives.
The city should hear back about the grant in September.
• Closed the public hearing regarding the establishment of a tax increment financing district for Palleton Pallets in the ALEDA Industrial Park.
Norman said since the hearing opened, the city learned that Palleton Pallets has chosen not to relocate to the ALEDA park. They will be staying at their current location.
• Approved two new city policies.
Norman said city staff have been putting together a series of policies on a city-wide basis; they have otherwise been followed on an internal basis.
The first is for a sidewalk inspection and maintenance policy.
The policy states the city has limited employee and financial resources and cannot reasonably replace all sidewalks needing repair in the same year. The city must exercise discretion and professional judgment in determining whether and when sidewalks need to be replaced or repaired.
The second policy is about pothole repair.
Norman said the city will repair potholes in a safe and cost-effective manner, keeping in mind safety, budget, personnel and environmental concerns.
• Approved the second reading of the proposed B-2 Community Business District design ordinance.
The ordinance includes new construction and major expansion of commercial buildings along portions of East and West Main Street, Bridge Avenue, South Broadway Avenue, Northbridge Mall and Blake Avenue.
The council approved its first reading of the ordinance at its last meeting.
• Approved a request to use Katherine Island and New Denmark Park on Sept. 10, 11 and 12 for a fishing tournament to be held in conjunction with the Ryan “Pie” Truesdell Memorial Softball Tournament. There will also be a golf tournament at Green Lea Golf Course and a softball tournament.
• Approved a professional services agreement with Freeborn County for a new shared geographical information systems. The city and county have had a shared user system for the last 10 years.
Under the new system, the city will pay an up-front development fee of $4,000 and $275 a month in maintenance costs, along with any other related costs.
• Authorized the use of tax increment financing receipts to repay advances from the general fund or to make pay-as-you-go payments to developers as needed.
• Approved an amendment to the development agreement with Prairie Senior Cottages of Albert Lea.
The company entered into a development agreement with the city in September 2009 for an assisted living project on Fountain Street and was supposed to have the project completed by December 2009.
The amendment extends the completion date to Dec. 31.