Sean C. Morgan
The Sweet Home City Council approved a contract with Exca-Drain Construction LLC of Halsey to replace a waterline along Qince Street.
The council considered the contract at its regular meeting on Feb. 23.
Exca-Drain is the apparent low bidder at $102,583.18 plus a contingency of up to 5 percent, said Public Works Director Mike Adams.
He said the company has done “good work” for the city in the past.
Exca-Drain completed a project last year along Mountain View Drive, including a waterline, sidewalk and pedestrian bridge, just west of Ames Creek Road.
The city received five bids for the project, Adams said, with three bidding more than $130,000 and one bidding more than $150,000.
The project will replace an existing 2-inch waterline with approximately 802 feet of 6-inch PVC waterline, a fire hydrant and 18 1-inch services, including meters and boxes.
The project will include a 2-inch pavement overlay for the entire project area on Quince Street and 13th Avenue.
The project is scheduled for completion by the end of May.
Funding was included in the 2015-16 city budget.
Councilors present and voting to approve the contract were Marybeth Angulo, Ryan Underwood, Greg Mahler, Mayor Jim Gourley, Dave Trask, Bruce Hobbs and Jeff Goodwin.
On another topic, the council took no action on a set of goals it developed during a two-day retreat earlier this year.
They include:
– Creating an economic development function in City Hall to lead and implement economic development, with the council establishing a subcommittee and dedicated staff position focused on local economic development efforts.
– Creating a comprehensive economic development plan combining what already exists.
– Continuing partnerships with other agencies and groups to further redevelopment of the county mill properties.
– Creating a technology assessment and plan to leverage existing resources and meet public expectations and better communicate with the public.
– Creating a community “and/or” city government strategic plan.
– Developing stable, long-term funding for police and library operations.
– Establishing a healthcare committee and follow through to systems improvements, creating a framework to improve stakeholder communication regarding local and regional healthcare needs.
– Creating local policy and codes that support the provision of housing to meet the needs of all citizens, including a revision of residential development code for increased flexibility of housing options in all zones, researching the feasibility of implementing a residential habitability code and program and improving the quality of rental housing stock.
– Expanding city code enforcement program and services, improving community livability.
– Improving opportunities and service levels of city parks, recreation and open spaces, improving the use of local parks and recreational facilities, improving service and maintenance levels and supporting efforts to improve recreation and open spaces.
– Developing a city facilities building master plan.
Each of the goal areas include objectives and actions to meet the goal. Some of the objectives were included with each goal listed here to help explain the goal.
“I’d like to see an ongoing discussion of our goals over the next year,” Gourley said.
“There’s not enough concreteness here,” Goodwin said.
The council will need to discuss where to go with some of the goals, Gourley said, agreeing that some of them are “lofty” and “open-ended.”
Goodwin suggested the goals include short- and medium-term goals “so we can know when we’ve accomplished them” and can check them off.
Gourley said he liked to see more lofty goals, but some should be more specific. He suggested reviewing them quarterly.
The council did not adopt its goals, but it will revisit them in May.
In another action Tuesday, the council appointed Bud Mather to a two-year term on the Traffic Safety Committee. He has served on the committee for 35 years. His new term will expire on Feb. 23, 2018.