Project could get underway later in July

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

A long-awaited water tower project in Deer Creek could come to fruition as soon as the middle of July.

During its regularly scheduled meeting last week, the Deer Creek City Council heard that the Surety company will proceed with completing the water tower rehabilitation project. 

Last April, the City of Deer Creek awarded a low bid of $353,050 to Onyx Blasting and Coating for this summer’s water tower rehabilitation project. The city received eight bids in all ranging from the bid from Onyx, all the way up to $852,500. The low bid was attractive to the city as it was about five percent lower than the estimated $372,300 cost from city engineers Bolton and Menk, Inc. 

As part of the project the city will be rehabbing the 100,000 gallon water tower in town with a new safety climb system, new 24” pressure man-way access in the bottom of the tank, a new tank mixer, new recirculation pump, new “mud” valve at the bottom of the tank, as well as several other repairs to the water tower.

Morgan Salo, of Bolton and Menk, walked the city council over the past year of delays in the project. The original contractor defaulted on its bond when it failed to show up to complete the work last year. The contractor asked for an extension to the start of 2025, but Salo said the contractor informed the city in February that it would not complete the project as originally bid. 

In order to recoup some of the costs associated with the delay, and having a new contractor complete the work, the city has went after the original companies bond on the project. A new company was located who will now complete the expansion water tower project that could take up to eight weeks to finish.

“What is going to happen is the new contractor is going to assume the obligations of the original contract,” said Salo. “They have a fairly good reputation in the upper Midwest.”

Salo said the city will seek funding from the original contractor’s bond to cover additional costs associated with the delay in the project. The new company has said they would like to begin work on the project around July 15 and has to have the work completed by the middle of October. 

In other news

• Discussed properties that received blight complaints within the city limits. City clerk/treasurer Miriam DeCock stated some property owners have already reached out to the city office to see what needs to be done to come in compliance with city ordinances, while others have made some progress to clean up their property. The council said it will continue to send out certified letters, and even citations if necessary, as it attempts to clean up properties in town.

• Heard an update from Rick Shara of West Central Initiative about some of the contributions the organization has made in the community over the years. He said there have been almost $400,000 in grants and loans made to the residents and city of Deer Creek through the years. The city also received a $1,000 grant that focused on some of the smallest fire departments being served by West Central Initiative. 

• Approved a parking ordinance that will detail what the individual responsibilities are for each property owner in the community when it comes to snow removal. While the city council approved the new ordinance now, it said the city will take steps in the fall to inform residents of what is required as part of the new ordinance. 

• Heard from Diane George about a request from community members to get playground equipment at the baseball field for children to play on during baseball games and activities at Elmer Becker Field. Currently there is no playground equipment or activities for youth to play on during games. 

• Approved lowering a second water/sewer charge for Justin Roggenkamp for his detached shop. Roggenkamp said the shop is located on the same property as his residence and he only occasionally uses a sink and toilet, but is charged a second water/sewer charge each month. Since the shop was located on the same property as his residence and he uses such limited amount of water, the city council agreed to lower his water/sewer charge to just an annual fee of $10 to cover the annual connection fee the city must pay the state.