Marquette Township OKs water project contracts
MARQUETTE — The Marquette Township Board took steps Tuesday toward securing a multimillion-dollar state loan to fund water system improvements in Trowbridge Park.
The township last year was approved for, but has not yet officially accepted a $3.265 million Drinking Water Revolving Fund loan, which would be repaid over 20 years at 2.5 percent interest.
However, the board through three separate 5-1 votes approved contracts for services related to the financing and construction of the water system project, which were needed to establish figures for the next step in the application process, due to state officials next week. Treasurer Ernie Johnson voted against all measures while Trustee Dan Everson was absent.
Johnson said, along with nearly $97,000 used to reconstruct the road taken from the township’s road rehabilitation millage, the decisions made Tuesday essentially totaled more than $420,000.
“The question I have and which I am very concerned with, when you start talking construction observation and administration costs of $290,000, to me that should have went out on bids,” he said. “There’s a heck of a lot of money sitting there. … I don’t care if we’ve used these people the last 10 years, that’s too much money to just vote on.”
Township Manager Randy Girard said the board at its Feb. 7 meeting chose to go with U.P. Engineers & Architects, which has been completing the township’s multiyear Local Roads Rehabilitation Project.
The board on Tuesday officially approved the $290,500 contract with U.P. Engineers & Architects for construction observation and administration of the water system improvements and roadway reconstruction.
In addition, the board approved a $22,500 contract with Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone PLC to provide bond counsel services, a requirement under state finance laws, as well as another contract estimated to total roughly $10,850 with PFMFA Financial Advisors LLC for development of a financing plan, user charge system and other financial services related to the project.
Mark Daavettila, project manager with U.P. Engineers & Architects, said his company’s fee was based on the amount of time the project was expected to take to complete, estimated at 165 days.
The water system improvements were proposed to be accelerated and completed at the same time as the township’s Local Roads and Rehabilitation Project to avoid having to reconstruct roadways twice, though roads projected to be completed in 2017 may not be finished until 2018.
Department of Public Works Superintendent Kirk Page estimated the water pipes at nearly 50 years old and said upgrades would improve reliability and fire flow.
However, Trustee Dave Wiegand questioned whether the entire system had to be replaced, and said that, according to his research efforts, pipes may have a useful life of up to 100 years depending on the type of soil surrounding them. He also said, though the system may be leaking water, there wasn’t any information of how much money it costs the township.
Wiegand voted for the contracts to meet the application deadline, but said he didn’t have enough information to approve the entire project if he were asked to Tuesday.
“That’s a lot of money,” he said. “Even if you could cut that in half, it’s a lot of money. (We’re) talking about recommending another $5 here in a year to the residents for paying for this project, and we’re not 100 percent sure we need to replace these pipes.”
The water system in Trowbridge Park was installed in the early to mid-1970s.