HEFFRON

NEGAUNEE — The initial phase of one of the first construction projects of the year in the city of Negaunee is nearing completion.

The effort to replace about 430 feet of water main on Peck Street is expected to be finished by the beginning of June, City Manager Nate Heffron said.

The $158,000 project consists of the removal and replacement of about 430 feet of water main from the Kanter Street intersection to Pioneer Avenue on Peck Street with partial reconstruction, along with sidewalk and ramp replacement, curb replacement, sub base, gravel base, curb and gutter, and final gravel grading.

The cost to replace the water main will be paid from the city’s water fund, Heffron said.

A second project to replace 1,400 feet of sanitary sewer main including laterals and manholes along Brown Avenue from Main Street to Cherry Street is expected to begin next week, as long as seasonal weight restrictions have been lifted, Heffron said.

The work is expected to cost $588,000, of which he said the city received a $100,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and could use $100,000 already in the sewer fund. The rest of the expense would be funded by an increase in the monthly wastewater capital improvement charge on customers’ water bills, Heffron said.

A $375,000 Michigan Department of Transportation Small Urban grant will pay for the street reconstruction on both Brown Avenue and Peck Street, Heffron said, as well as several smaller mill and overlay projects including South Healy Avenue from County Road 480 to Main Street; the corner of Division and Rail streets; and roughly a block of Kanter Street near Peck Street.

The city’s match for the paving project will be $75,000, he said.

“We are very excited we can do these projects through this grant mechanism,” he said.

City officials have received public input about several streets that need attention, Heffron said, but stringent grant requirements limited which streets could be chosen.

“All the streets that are getting paved, the monies for those projects are coming from the small urban grant, and we picked the streets that fell under that funding mechanism,” Heffron said. “As we move forward on street repairs, residents will continue to see coupled projects to enable us to have the most efficient use of taxpayer dollars while leveraging other available funding sources.”

The paving projects will be let out for bid by MDOT, he said.

Lisa Bowers can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 242.