Lansing City Council reviews FEMA funds determination for Clear Creek Project, advised that hydrant flushing will begin April 12

by B.J. Tomlinson

The Lansing City Council met in its regular session Monday night, April 3, addressing a variety of agenda items. Most of the meeting discussion centered around a pair of larger projects within the city.

People Service Representative Heath Draeger first advised that water hydrant flushing would commence Wednesday, April 12, and will continue each Wednesday for several weeks. Residents are reminded that rust may be detected in their water those days. There is an MSA meeting for radium treatment Thursday, April 6 at 10 a.m. for a tour of the water distribution system, and a formal meeting at 1:15 p.m. to determine options.

Jon Biederman, Fehr Graham Engineer, addressed the Council relating to the Clear Creek sanitary sewer crossing improvements. Biederman said that he had met with FEMA officials and that changes have been made to formerly approved expenses. Biederman said that other, higher-up decision makers for FEMA rejected the most recent plan. FEMA is allowing 115 feet of casing rather than the 160 feet that was originally requested and is allowing $145,683.70.

In a document distributed by Biederman, FEMA is disallowing those items that the organization determined to be "...work outside the damaged element of the facility." He also expressed frustration with the FEMA document that excluded extra large rock for stream bank stabilization that had been verbally agreed upon at the meeting; he will draft a letter to FEMA to ask that the larger rock, an $8,000 item, be included in the final written document.

FEMA will pay $145,683.70 for the project and the City of Lansing would pay $21,852.56. If the City chooses to do more work, it would be responsible for those expenses. Biederman and the Council agreed that a lot of time and money have been wasted because of FEMA's ongoing changes in the project plan - "ping-ponging," as Mayor Mike Brennan described it.

Julie Neebel, iiw Engineer, updated the Council regarding the South Road Bridge project. She said two bids had been received, but were 17% over the estimate due to the elevated costs of concrete. Neebel also said her firm did not believe it would be beneficial to request further bids. The City had budgeted $250,000 but would now need to pay $310,892.00 unless it was decided to eliminate some parts of the proposed work, such as the sidewalk. Councilman Ross Kolsrud said he didn't think a sidewalk was necessary, but the other Council members agreed that it would be better to go ahead with the original plan and pay the extra $60,000 since none of the changes would reduce the costs enough to make up the difference.

Mayor Brennan said the City's portion would be paid by a bond. City Clerk Katie Becker said it was likely the City would lose the $1 million Department of Transportation (DOT) grant if construction did not occur now. Upon completion of discussion, the Council approved the project.  Neebel said contracts were being mailed right away and should be approved within a month.

In other business, the Council reviewed and considered a building permit request to add a driveway at 155 North Second Street. Street Superintendent Ken Ripp and Mayor Brennan both expressed concerns about the impact of the plan on neighbors. The item was postponed pending discussions with the owners.

The Council also reviewed a request for a building permit at 80 North Fourth Street to build a garage-like structure. Concerns about water drainage and a space variance were discussed. The owner, Tom Burke, said he felt the water drainage issue could be resolved by adding gutters to the neighbor's structure and that he would be willing to make further adjustments if that didn't work. The Council approved the request after adjusting the setback along the north side from the proposed three feet to four feet.

Ken Ripp, Street Superintendent, asked the Council what to do about mowing personnel. The Council agreed to hire two workers at $10 per hour, 32-40 hours a week. Ripp was asked about the trees that were recently removed from Main Street, whether they would be replaced and if the stumps would be removed. Councilwoman Stephanie Runkle is looking into replacement tree options, including a tree grant through Alliant Energy.  Mayor Brennan suggested perhaps the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has a stump grinder available; Ripp said he had received a bid of $300 to grind all the stumps, or could rent a grinder for $500 a day.