Board Of Works Approves $644K Hangar Door Bid
November 7, 2020 at 5:03 a.m.
Board Of Works Approves $644K Hangar Door Bid
By David [email protected]
Warsaw Municipal Airport Manager Nick King presented the bid for Hangar 121 door for $644,262 from Robinson Construction. The bid was presented last month to the Board of Aviation Commissioners, who approved it with board member Dan Robinson abstaining.
King said the Aviation Board went out for bids on the hangar door about 1-1/2 months ago. Several contractors were contacted, but only Robinson Construction submitted a bid.
“Hangar 121 was built in 1985 and the hangar door has reached its life span. It is actually to the point where it has to be replaced, it can’t be repaired anymore,” King said. “So we are looking at removing the three overhead garage door-style doors that are there and replacing it with one bi-fold door that will be the full span of that building.”
The door will be approximately 120 feet and 28 feet tall to accommodate aircraft. King said the door should last 50 to 75 years. He recommended the Board of Works approve the bid.
“I would add that that door is also going to expand capacity of types of aircraft that can be stored in there by virtue of its size. So we’re kind of killing two birds with one stone. But most importantly, the door is costing us a lot of money every year to repair so it’s time to take care of it,” Mayor Joe Thallemer said.
Jeff Grose, Board of Works member, expressed some concern that with the size of the bid if the proper protocol for bidding had taken place. King said he went to the airport’s engineer, CHA, and they did a pre-bid cost estimate of what they felt a replacement for this style and type of door would be. CHA estimated $550,000 to $750,000. “So because this falls into that range, we are OK with that one bid,” King said.
The Board of Works unanimously approved the bid. The contract is being finalized and will be presented at the next Board of Works meeting, King said.
Later in the meeting, Utility Payment Supervisor Rebecca Jenkins said several customers, but one in particular, didn’t sign up for the city’s Summer Credit program and had some high water bills from watering and filling a pool.
“She had called to see about getting a credit on that. The ordinance states it is not retroactive, so the people who have called before her we did tell them that. She did take it further and talked to the mayor. So we’re just presenting for her, asking for a credit to be issued and for everyone else moving forward about a current bill,” Jenkins said.
Thallemer said the Summer Credit program was started about three years ago when the city went from a flat to a metered rate. “This became an issue for the community. We’re still working through that,” he said. “The way this works is that if a resident fills their pool or sprinkles, the thought is that none of that water is going back into the sewer. They’re paying their water bill, they’re paying for the water with the water vendor, but the city bases their sewer bill on that water reading, but if that water is not going down the sewer, they’re not getting any of the benefit that they’re being billed for.”
He said the city recognized that early on and that’s why it set up the Summer Credit program. All the city asks is that the resident sign up for the program so the city can make the calculations. Thallemer said the ordinance states the resident has to request to be signed up for the program, but they only have to do that once.
He said they can’t make the credit retroactive, but asked the Board of Works if they’d be OK to issue a credit to someone if they haven’t paid their current bill, but not make it retroactive. The credit would be an incentive for the resident to sign up for the Summer Credit program.
In the instance of the customer Jenkins mentioned, the woman was billed $177.50 in August 2020 and $392.10 in September 2020. With the Summer Credit, she would have been billed $32.50 using her 2,000-gallon winter average for each of those months. The woman was not at Friday’s meeting.
“When real estate changes hands, that new owner still has to come in and make that request for that,” Thallemer said.
A water leak is a separate issue and Jenkins has authority to make adjustments in those circumstances.
Board of Works members George Clemens and Jeff Grose agreed to issuing a credit on a current unpaid bill as an incentive to sign up for the program.
Then on sewer liens, Thallemer said the city was going to resume them on unpaid bills. The city had not been doing that during the COVID pandemic, but it’s now dealing with significant backlog and doesn’t “want this to become a crutch,” he said. The governor’s executive order also expired in August.
The Board of Works approved for sewer liens to continue.
Clerk-Treasurer Lynne Christiansen said if people do have high sewer bills, they can come into the sewage collection office or call and arrange payment plans.
In other business, the board approved:
• Awarding the bid to Granite Inline for $219,922 for the Center Lake stormline rehabilitation. Utility Superintendent Brian Davison said the engineer’s estimate for the project originally was $486,000. Four other bids were received and were all over $300,000.
“This is actually a stormwater project. This is the 36-inch line running around Center Lake that drains the park area and clear east of the railroad tracks. So it’s a major stormline,” Davison said.
• A pay application to Wessler Engineering for $53,063 for the wastewater plant expansion project oversight.
A second Wessler Engineering pay application was for $5,290 for the original sewer rehabilitation project.
• A pay application from Structurepoint for preliminary engineering design for the Anchorage Road project for $3,369.87, as requested by City Planner Jeremy Skinner. Eighty percent of it will be reimbursed by the Indiana Department of Transportation.
• A deed of dedication for the right-of-way and easements on Fruitridge Drive, adjacent to the Ind. 15 and Rozella Road intersection, as requested by Skinner. The city has a sanitary sewer easement in that location and has been maintaining the portion of the right-of-way for years.
• An equipment service agreement for 2021 with Pro Air Inc., as requested by Warsaw Police Chief Scott Whitaker. The cost is $1,220 for the WPD and $2,440 for the fire territory. The agreement is for air tanks and the maintenance of those air tanks. The fire territory approved the fire department’s portion of the agreement at its meeting Tuesday.
• An interlocal agreement between Kosciusko County and the city for maintenance fees and access to records management server. For 2021, the amount is $30,000, Whitaker said.
• Permission for the Warsaw Police Department to participate in the Comprehensive Hoosier Highways Injury Reduction Program (CHIRP), formerly known as Operation Pull Over.
Capt. Joel Beam said CHIRP will be administered through the town of Winona Lake through the county traffic safety partnership. No matching funds are required. Beam said the city is expected to get about $20,000 and the county will get $84,000.
Whitaker said the $20,000 has been accounted for in the 2021 budget as a revenue source.
• A pay application from Phend & Brown Inc. for $128,385.26 for the reconstruction of Lincoln Drive and Johnson Street.
City engineer James Emans, speaking on behalf of Street Superintendent Dustin Dillon, said the project is substantially complete “but we are working on some punch list items to close it out but this is the last major expense on this project.”
The project is part of the state’s Community Crossings program.
“The work out there looks really good,” Thallemer said.
• Releasing the mortgages for Melody Lucht, 717 Cook St., and Evelia Vega and Manuel Jiron, 410 W. Winona Ave., as they have been paid in full. Pam Kennedy, Warsaw Housing Authority, who requested the release of the mortgages, said those were the last for 2020.
Thallemer asked what kind of repairs were done to the homes, and Kennedy said one was a sewer issue and the other one was a roof, furnace, water heater and electrical work.
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Warsaw Municipal Airport Manager Nick King presented the bid for Hangar 121 door for $644,262 from Robinson Construction. The bid was presented last month to the Board of Aviation Commissioners, who approved it with board member Dan Robinson abstaining.
King said the Aviation Board went out for bids on the hangar door about 1-1/2 months ago. Several contractors were contacted, but only Robinson Construction submitted a bid.
“Hangar 121 was built in 1985 and the hangar door has reached its life span. It is actually to the point where it has to be replaced, it can’t be repaired anymore,” King said. “So we are looking at removing the three overhead garage door-style doors that are there and replacing it with one bi-fold door that will be the full span of that building.”
The door will be approximately 120 feet and 28 feet tall to accommodate aircraft. King said the door should last 50 to 75 years. He recommended the Board of Works approve the bid.
“I would add that that door is also going to expand capacity of types of aircraft that can be stored in there by virtue of its size. So we’re kind of killing two birds with one stone. But most importantly, the door is costing us a lot of money every year to repair so it’s time to take care of it,” Mayor Joe Thallemer said.
Jeff Grose, Board of Works member, expressed some concern that with the size of the bid if the proper protocol for bidding had taken place. King said he went to the airport’s engineer, CHA, and they did a pre-bid cost estimate of what they felt a replacement for this style and type of door would be. CHA estimated $550,000 to $750,000. “So because this falls into that range, we are OK with that one bid,” King said.
The Board of Works unanimously approved the bid. The contract is being finalized and will be presented at the next Board of Works meeting, King said.
Later in the meeting, Utility Payment Supervisor Rebecca Jenkins said several customers, but one in particular, didn’t sign up for the city’s Summer Credit program and had some high water bills from watering and filling a pool.
“She had called to see about getting a credit on that. The ordinance states it is not retroactive, so the people who have called before her we did tell them that. She did take it further and talked to the mayor. So we’re just presenting for her, asking for a credit to be issued and for everyone else moving forward about a current bill,” Jenkins said.
Thallemer said the Summer Credit program was started about three years ago when the city went from a flat to a metered rate. “This became an issue for the community. We’re still working through that,” he said. “The way this works is that if a resident fills their pool or sprinkles, the thought is that none of that water is going back into the sewer. They’re paying their water bill, they’re paying for the water with the water vendor, but the city bases their sewer bill on that water reading, but if that water is not going down the sewer, they’re not getting any of the benefit that they’re being billed for.”
He said the city recognized that early on and that’s why it set up the Summer Credit program. All the city asks is that the resident sign up for the program so the city can make the calculations. Thallemer said the ordinance states the resident has to request to be signed up for the program, but they only have to do that once.
He said they can’t make the credit retroactive, but asked the Board of Works if they’d be OK to issue a credit to someone if they haven’t paid their current bill, but not make it retroactive. The credit would be an incentive for the resident to sign up for the Summer Credit program.
In the instance of the customer Jenkins mentioned, the woman was billed $177.50 in August 2020 and $392.10 in September 2020. With the Summer Credit, she would have been billed $32.50 using her 2,000-gallon winter average for each of those months. The woman was not at Friday’s meeting.
“When real estate changes hands, that new owner still has to come in and make that request for that,” Thallemer said.
A water leak is a separate issue and Jenkins has authority to make adjustments in those circumstances.
Board of Works members George Clemens and Jeff Grose agreed to issuing a credit on a current unpaid bill as an incentive to sign up for the program.
Then on sewer liens, Thallemer said the city was going to resume them on unpaid bills. The city had not been doing that during the COVID pandemic, but it’s now dealing with significant backlog and doesn’t “want this to become a crutch,” he said. The governor’s executive order also expired in August.
The Board of Works approved for sewer liens to continue.
Clerk-Treasurer Lynne Christiansen said if people do have high sewer bills, they can come into the sewage collection office or call and arrange payment plans.
In other business, the board approved:
• Awarding the bid to Granite Inline for $219,922 for the Center Lake stormline rehabilitation. Utility Superintendent Brian Davison said the engineer’s estimate for the project originally was $486,000. Four other bids were received and were all over $300,000.
“This is actually a stormwater project. This is the 36-inch line running around Center Lake that drains the park area and clear east of the railroad tracks. So it’s a major stormline,” Davison said.
• A pay application to Wessler Engineering for $53,063 for the wastewater plant expansion project oversight.
A second Wessler Engineering pay application was for $5,290 for the original sewer rehabilitation project.
• A pay application from Structurepoint for preliminary engineering design for the Anchorage Road project for $3,369.87, as requested by City Planner Jeremy Skinner. Eighty percent of it will be reimbursed by the Indiana Department of Transportation.
• A deed of dedication for the right-of-way and easements on Fruitridge Drive, adjacent to the Ind. 15 and Rozella Road intersection, as requested by Skinner. The city has a sanitary sewer easement in that location and has been maintaining the portion of the right-of-way for years.
• An equipment service agreement for 2021 with Pro Air Inc., as requested by Warsaw Police Chief Scott Whitaker. The cost is $1,220 for the WPD and $2,440 for the fire territory. The agreement is for air tanks and the maintenance of those air tanks. The fire territory approved the fire department’s portion of the agreement at its meeting Tuesday.
• An interlocal agreement between Kosciusko County and the city for maintenance fees and access to records management server. For 2021, the amount is $30,000, Whitaker said.
• Permission for the Warsaw Police Department to participate in the Comprehensive Hoosier Highways Injury Reduction Program (CHIRP), formerly known as Operation Pull Over.
Capt. Joel Beam said CHIRP will be administered through the town of Winona Lake through the county traffic safety partnership. No matching funds are required. Beam said the city is expected to get about $20,000 and the county will get $84,000.
Whitaker said the $20,000 has been accounted for in the 2021 budget as a revenue source.
• A pay application from Phend & Brown Inc. for $128,385.26 for the reconstruction of Lincoln Drive and Johnson Street.
City engineer James Emans, speaking on behalf of Street Superintendent Dustin Dillon, said the project is substantially complete “but we are working on some punch list items to close it out but this is the last major expense on this project.”
The project is part of the state’s Community Crossings program.
“The work out there looks really good,” Thallemer said.
• Releasing the mortgages for Melody Lucht, 717 Cook St., and Evelia Vega and Manuel Jiron, 410 W. Winona Ave., as they have been paid in full. Pam Kennedy, Warsaw Housing Authority, who requested the release of the mortgages, said those were the last for 2020.
Thallemer asked what kind of repairs were done to the homes, and Kennedy said one was a sewer issue and the other one was a roof, furnace, water heater and electrical work.
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