By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
It's a project that's not exciting or interesting to most people, but very important for all Hays residents.
City commissioners unanimously approved design engineering services this week for several water distribution system improvements.
The low bid of $32,650 came from Driggs Design, Hays.
The city's 2022 capital improvement plan includes plans for upgrading water lines and install new fire hydrants in several locations through 2026. The additional hydrants are for better fire protection and water quality.
"Annually, we prioritize [these] projects by reviewing historical water line failure data and have selected seven projects over the next couple of years," said Jeff Crispin, water sources director.
With input from the city commission, Crispin solicited bid proposals for two years’ worth of projects so planned improvements can be designed and shovel-ready if construction bids are favorable. That would allow for more projects to be completed in 2022 and 2023.
It's a change from last year when the city designed projects for only one construction season.
In 2020, the engineer’s construction estimate was $701,000 for two water line replacement projects and the low bid was roughly $260,000 lower than the engineer’s estimate.
"Commissioner Shaun Musil asked me then since it was so low if we could just add to the [project list] at the time and get those others taken care of," Crispin said. "I said no, but we've come back this year, bringing some additional work so we could make that happen.
"If we have it on the shelf, we're ready. My goal is to do between $800,000 and a million dollars worth of projects every year."
Crispin also told commissioners pricing in the unstable construction and supply markets resulting from the COVID pandemic "has kind of leveled out and we should see that rebound a little bit."
A new 9,000 sq. ft. building to house all the snow removal equipment at Hays Regional Airport will be built and commissioners approved a design agreement with Burns & McDonnell engineers, Kansas City.
The design project is eligible for 90/10 funding from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The city's cost will be $97,394 of the total $363,637.
The airport's fleet of of snow removal equipment has grown from two to six machines, currently stored in three buildings.
Commissioners also adopted an ordinance reducing Hays' extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) boundary and downsizing the number of members on the Hays Area Planning Commission from nine to seven.
Both moves were done in collaboration with the Ellis County Commission. Mason Ruder, who is employed by the county, abstained from the vote.
In other businesses, the commission:
* Honored city employees with 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 years of service
* Issued mayoral proclamations in observance of Small Business Saturday and Donate Life Month, encouraging human organ and tissue donations.