In addition to a potentially contentious budget vote, Traverse City commissioners will tackle a busy agenda tonight (Monday) that includes authorizing contracts for the reconstruction of Veterans Drive and several other road projects, plus a contract for a firm to lead the city through a strategic planning process.

Veterans Drive
Veterans Drive is in line for a significant reconstruction if commissioners approve two project-related contracts tonight. Construction, planned for the northern half of Veterans Drive within city limits will include removing the pavement, underlying concrete, certain sidewalks, and sections of curb for water service replacement. Curbs and sidewalks will be removed at intersections to create bulb-outs for “reduced pedestrian crossing exposure and areas where water services are to be replaced,” according to a memo from City Engineer Anne Pagano.

Curb along the west side of the road will remain “largely in place,” according to Pagano. “Once the removals are complete, the contractor will be installing new water main along the center line of the existing roadway to a depth of six feet. The existing water main will be abandoned in place. New catch basins and dry wells will be added to the low points and intersections to reduce the load on this storm reach. The new curb and sidewalk will be replaced in areas where it was removed.”

In the final phase, the contractor will install new aggregate base and asphalt top. New sidewalk is planned to go in along the west side to Boughey Street, with a new crossing installed. Veterans Drive will be striped for 10-foot travel lanes, 6-7-foot bike lanes, bike shields, and special emphasis crosswalk markings within the project zone, according to Pagano.

The reconstruction project was selected by a committee for the recently formed regional Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) to receive funding support. That means federal dollars will cover more than 81 percent of the costs. The water main work is not eligible for federal funds.

M&M Excavating was the lower bidder for the project, with a total contract cost of $2,338,897.98. That will be covered by $1,127,594 in MPO funding, $998,676.89 in city funding (from a combination of road and water funds), and a $212,627.09 contingency. Commissioners will also be asked to approve a contract for $128,254.50 with Hubble Roth and Clark for field management and construction testing – a requirement of the federal funding. If approved, construction is expected to start in August.

Other Projects
Several other road and infrastructure projects are also on the commission’s agenda. Commissioners will vote to approve a contract with Team Elmer’s for up to $353,895.92 for three bundled projects – two of which will be partially funded by property owners through a special improvement district (SID). Those include a project to pave the L-shaped gravel alley between Peninsula Drive and Garfield Avenue and add a speed hump for east-west traffic calming, as well as to pave the gravel section of alley north of Carver Street. The third project is to repair parking Lot T, located at the corner of Union Street and Grandview Parkway next to the farmers market lot. Pagano said that project has been delayed several years and needs to move forward, reminding commissioners that in budget discussions “we have noted that we need to address maintenance and no longer continue to defer these items.”

Commissioners will also vote to approve a $24,340.20 contract with Traverse City Light & Power (TCLP) for a lighting project along East Bay Boulevard from Eighth Street to Front Street. That project, also partially paid for through an SID, will convert six “high-level functional lights to pedestrian-scale decorate lighting,” according to City Manager Liz Vogel. Under TCLP’s lighting policy, TCLP will pay for underground work while the city will pay for poles, fixtures, and boring. Going forward, “TCLP will own, operate, and pay the monthly bill for these lights, as it has with existing functional equipment,” Vogel says.

Commissioners will also consider waiving the bidding process and authorizing staff to negotiate directly with contractor Fer-Pal Construction USA for what City Director of Municipal Utilities Art Krueger calls a “challenging water main” project along Division Street. A 12-inch, 48-year-old cast iron water main “has experienced degradation from corrosive soils, which is damaging the pipe exterior,” according to Krueger. The city originally planned to replace the bad pipe through a horizontal drilling project, but bids in 2022 came in at $2.2 million – more than double the original engineering estimate of $1 million. “This stretch of water main is among a lot of wetland areas, which makes pipe replacement challenging and more expensive,” Krueger says.

The city now plans to use a cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) process to make the repairs, according to Krueger. That process involves workers excavating an access hole to the existing water main, cleaning and flushing it out, pulling a liner into the pipe, and then curing that liner in place. Fer-Pal Construction USA is the only water main CIPP installer in Michigan, which is why staff are recommending directly negotiating a contract. The city has allocated $1.2 million for the project in the proposed 2024-25 budget. Once staff negotiate a contract, they’ll bring it back for commission approval – likely in July. Krueger noted that the CIPP process should offer a shorter project timeframe, cost savings, and less disruption to water customers than the originally planned drilling project.

Finally, commissioners tonight will vote to approve agreements with the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) to grade and reconstruct city-owned sidewalks at West End Beach as part of the reconstruction of Grandview Parkway/M-22 next year from Division Street to Cherry Bend Road. According to Pagano, the agreements “allow for disturbing and restoring the city land adjacent to the construction. No permanent occupation by MDOT facilities will result in authorizing them. Any city assets that are disturbed or removed would be restored to their existing condition or better.”

Strategic Planning
Commissioners will vote tonight to approve an $80,000 contract with consulting firm Future iQ for strategic planning services. The agreement “will culminate in the first strategic plan for the City of Traverse City ever, or at least in several decades,” according to Vogel.

Future iQ was chosen from among four firms that interviewed with a team of city department heads. The project covers four phases, including initial planning and assessments, public and stakeholder engagement, plan development, and delivery of the final strategic plan. Another contract for up to $80,000 will be coming to commissioners in the future for approval for a second firm, Berry Dunn, to assist with “governance training at the onset and orientation as it relates to the city commission's important role in strategic planning,” according to Vogel, who said the total $160,000 price tag is “well within range for this type of work.” If approved, the strategic planning process will kick off in August and likely conclude next spring, Vogel says.