The Bartlesville City Council approved contracts for several City projects during their regularly scheduled meeting Monday night.
Contract awarded for 5th Street, sidewalk improvements
The council voted to approve a contract for work on the 5th Street Sidewalks and Concrete Paving Rehabilitation project, which is set to begin no later than January 2023.
“This is a jointly-funded Community Development Block Grant Project utilizing a 50/50 match of funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as administered by the Oklahoma Department of Commerce and the City of Bartlesville,” said Director of Engineering Micah Siemers. “This project consists of constructing new sidewalks and associated ADA ramps along 5th Street, from Sunset to Santa Fe, to facilitate safe routes for local pedestrians to access the multiple nonprofit organizations and recreational facilities along 5th Street. Also included in the project is the rehabilitating of 5th Street’s concrete pavement between Virginia and Santa Fe. All improvements will be located within public right-of-way.”
The original budget amount for the project was $456,666, which included $243,333 from CDBG grant funds and $243,333 from the City’s Capital Reserve Street Funds.
“The lowest bid, from KSL Dirtworks, was $489,900 which is $33,234 over the original budget,” Siemers said. “Staff has identified $33,234 of additional funding from this year’s budgeted ARPA Street Funds to offset the budget deficit, making the available budget equal to the lowest bid amount of $489,900.”
The contract was awarded to KSL Dirtworks in the amount of $489,900.
Council OKs contract for Soccer Field lighting
The council approved a contract to Electrical Express of Edmond for the Robinwood Soccer Field lighting project on Monday. The project was approved by voters in the 2020 General Obligation Bond Election and consists of installing salvaged MUSCO field lighting on the south three soccer fields at Robinwood Park, located at 2200 S.E. Frank Phillips Blvd.
“Sixteen 60-foot tall light poles and associated light fixtures were salvaged from the Price Fields Phase 3 project with the intent to repurpose at Robinwood Park,” Director of Engineering Micah Siemers said in a report to the council. “The scope of work includes providing new primary and secondary electric for the lights and coordination with MUSCO to provide a turnkey, fully functional field lighting system.”
Siemers said the field lighting plan that MUSCO came up with only required 12 of the 16 field lights, so staff decided to include a bid alternate component to use the remaining four field lights at the Lee Lake Skate Park. He said that due to higher prices because of inflation, the extra project at Lee Lake has pushed the project cost over the available budget.
The council voted to award the contract to Electrical Express of Edmond for $310,000 for the Robinwood Soccer Field lighting and to direct $40,000 of the remaining $350,000 budget to the skate park lighting project. Staff will identify unallocated funds to make up the remaining $67,000 needed for the $107,000 skate park project.
Siemers said that while he anticipates getting contracts and bonds back from the contractor in the next 30 days, due to a required 110-day lead time on the electrical cabinets, installation of the lights is currently slated for late winter or early spring.
“That being the case, we will need to work closely with user groups to ensure we don’t adversely affect their seasons,” he said.
ARPA grant could fund wastewater expansion
The council voted to approve a resolution authorizing application for an American Rescue Plan Act grant from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board. If approved, the grant would be used for the Wastewater Treatment Plant Expansion Project.
According to a report by Water Utilities Director Terry Lauritsen, the State has received $1.87 billion from the federal government through the American Rescue Plan Act. Of this money, the State Legislature and governor have authorized $50 million for water, sewer and dam renovation projects, with $25 million for small community water/sewer projects, $20 million for mid to large community water/sewer projects and $5 million for small community dam rehab projects.
“The State has tasked the Oklahoma Water Resources Board to promulgate rules, evaluate and award grant applications for these ARPA funds,” Lauritsen said. “The City of Bartlesville falls within the mid to large community water/sewer grant program. The maximum grant available for this category is $2 million, with the local entity required to match the grant funds dollar for dollar.”
Lauritsen said that based on the OWRBs evaluation criteria, staff believes the Wastewater Treatment Plant Expansion Project, with an estimated cost of $55 million, will rank “very favorably.” It is expected the application will be submitted later this month.
Council approves contract with new fiber company
The council approved a contract with Dobson Fiber to provide internet service in Bartlesville. The agreement is similar to the agreements between the City and BluePeak and Sparklight.
CFO/City Clerk Jason Muninger said in a report to the council that Dobson Fiber contacted the City to request the agreement.
“Staff was presented with projects currently under development and recently completed projects demonstrating their experience with cities of like size and population,” said Muninger. “The language contained in this agreement is standard language used across the State of Oklahoma and is very similar to our current active cable franchise agreements.”
The franchise fee is set at 5 percent of the gross revenues the companies collect and 5 percent of the portion of gross revenues from advertising, which are defined as a permit fee.
“At this time, there is no plan by Dobson to provide cable service — only Internet packages,” Muninger said.
Contracts awarded for upcoming airport projects
A professional services contract for Bartlesville Municipal Airport improvements drew support from the City Council on Monday, with a 5-0 vote to enter into an agreement with Parkhill for aviation services.
The next phase in airport improvements potentially involves a combined taxiway extension project and updating the various “disadvantaged business enterprise” information and five-year capital plans.
“The airport has received increased interest from potential lessees for hangar space, though currently all hangars are under contract,” Director of Engineering Micah Siemers said in a report recently. He said the current airport master plan layout and infrastructure provides only enough space adjacent to the existing taxiway for one medium-sized hangar.
“The Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission is considering allocating $300,000 in Fiscal Year 2023 for a project to extend a taxilane to facilitate further development of the Bartlesville Municipal Airport property,” Siemers said, adding that the total project budget would be $1,138,100 — utilizing $740,000 in Federal Aviation Administration funds, $300,000 in OAC funds, and $99,000 in sponsor funds, or the City of Bartlesville airport fund.
“There is a 5 percent match on the state grant funds, and 10 percent match on the federal funds,” he said. “The FAA funds are comprised of ‘new’ FAA funding included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that allocated an additional $295,000 per year to the Bartlesville Municipal Airport for five years, starting in Fiscal Year 2022. This will be coupled with $150,000 per year in NPE funds we already receive.”
Siemers said the current Airport Layout Plan was last updated in 2007 and does not account for any future development of larger hangars.
“This plan needs to be updated to assist in planning for development at the airport,” he said.
The council approved a contract with Parkhill to complete a Master Agreement for Professional Services and Task Order No. 1 to the Master Agreement for the Hangar Development Plan and associated Land Surveying services. A later task order will be required for updating the DBE information and 5-year capital plan. The fees for the study will ultimately be reimbursed 90 percent by the FAA, under the FY 2023 grant, once received.