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NORWAY -- The Norway City Council on Monday tapped Coleman Engineering Company in Iron Mountain to do a number of paving projects from fiscal year 2020 through 2024.
The projects, which include engineering and construction services, will cost an estimated $100,578 -- a number that surprised some council members.
Council Member Lee Meneghini noted Coleman's bid was more than $70,000 less than the highest bidder, GEI Consultants Inc. in Iron Mountain.
"I sure hope you're not missing something," Council Member Lee Meneghini told Kevin Trevillian, principal of civil engineering and surveying operations with Coleman Engineering.
Council Member Scott Popp had a similar concern, expressing disbelief .61 miles of 16th Avenue could be finished in two weeks as bid.
"It's fairly straightforward," Trevillian said. "Very few sidewalk ramps, which are time-eaters. These are crush and shape and pave projects, so once mobilized, they'll crush it in a day. They're grading for a day or two and paving on these projects is only a day or two as well."
Grants from the Michigan Department of Transportation's Rural Task Force program are expected to pay the entire $268,344 cost for the 16th Avenue project, due to begin in fiscal year 2020.
Also slated to be crushed, shaped and paved is County Road 573 from the city boundary to about .41 miles west. Construction is set for fiscal year 2022. The Rural Task Force grant will provide an estimated $197,620, leaving the local share at $20,000.
Main Street from Railroad to 16th Avenue also will be completed in 2022, with grants from MDOT's Small Urban program providing $234,375 of the total project estimate. The local share is expected to be $46,875.
In 2024, 1.5 miles of Kimberly Road -- from Stephenson Avenue to the city limits -- will be crushed, shaped and paved. Local cost is estimated at $26,340, with the Rural Task Force paying $258,750.
In other business, the council:
-- Appointed City Manager Ray Anderson as the voting delegate for the upcoming Michigan Municipal League business meeting Sept. 25 in Detroit.
-- Amended an agreement with Norway architectural and engineering firm Mead and Hunt Inc., deducting $18,246.18 in unused funds for a new total of $653,654 for the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Rural Development wastewater treatment plant project.
-- Approved a $44,739.87 pay request for Mead and Hunt, water analysis outfit Hach Company, B&B Electric and FDS Electrical and Engineering Services of Iron Mountain for the USDA-RD WWTP project.
-- Also approved a $35,858.05 pay request submitted by Coleman Engineering for the Strawberry Lake Park Improvements Project for contractor Wright Electric of Marquette. The pay request covers electrical conduit and light pole bases installed along the park walking trail.
-- Extended a contract with Frank's Logging to allow the purchase of timber harvested on Norway property to be completed by December 2020, instead of the original April date. Frank's Logging was contracted in January to select cut 110 acres near the hydroelectric facility. Revenue from the timber sale will go to the electric department budget.
-- Granted a distribution easement to DTE Energy, which will extend its natural gas line down Oak Crest Drive in Norway at no cost to the city.