Belleville opens two bids for seawall repair, may consider other option

In December the city of Belleville received a single bid of $341,000 for Doane’s Landing seawall repair. That was too much, so they changed the specifications some and went out for bids again.
On Monday, Clerk Sherri Scharf opened two new bids for seawall repair, one for $365,589 from Todd Services of Hamburg, MI and one for $295,000 from Lakeside Landscaping of Taylor.
Fire Chief Brian Loranger said he would give the administration his personal opinion on one of the bidders in private.
When asked why a landscaping company would be eligible to fix a seawall, DPW Director Rick Rutherford said no one invited to bid did not have proper credentials for the work.
Adam Younglove of Michigan Marine Dredging Co. of South Rockwood was in the audience. He said he did not bid because he did not think the job needed everything in the bid specifications.
He asked if they had considered repair instead of rebuilding, which he felt was called for. He said poor engineering and poor work were what led to the present problem. The quality of the metal is good, he said.
“The workmanship and engineering are at fault and we felt it could be repaired,” Younglove said.
Rutherford said the city had no information on the engineering of the seawall and he depended on the geotechnical studies.
He asked Younglove to get a proposal together and he would have the geotechnical engineer assess it.
“We will entertain whatever,” Rutherford said.
Rutherford said when the seawall was installed, before his time, they didn’t have the proper hammers and they cut the tops off when they couldn’t hammer it down. The top failed, but the bottom is holding.
He said the engineers felt they should drive in new sheets.
Younglove estimated that $90,000 worth of work would repair both the city and condo seawalls, and he went through what would be done.
He said also the geotech fabric and peagravel would be put in place so the water from the surface has a place to go.
“It got top-heavy,” Younglove said.
Rutherford said the rods were undersized, too, and the openings for them were much bigger showing they were for bigger rods.
“The thing isn’t even welded together,” Younglove said.
“With the proper ‘deadman’ it wouldn’t have failed,” said Chris Zweng.
The council voted to turn the bids over to the administration to assess and also look at other options.
Councilman Tom Fielder mentioned the time factor and, “We have to move forward.”
In other business at Monday’s hour-long meeting, the council:
• Called a public hearing for 7:30 p.m., May 7 to consider any objections to the vacation of Fourth Street from the alley to Charles Street for the library construction;
• Passed resolutions to approve the Definitive Transfer Agreement with Wayne County for the Downriver Utility Wastewater Authority and authorize the city’s representative to vote for the agreement when it comes before the DUWA board. Mayor Kereen Conley is city representative and Rutherford is backup rep.;
• Approved the preliminary timetable for work on the 2018-19 city budget. The proposed budget will be presented to the council at a special meeting at 6 p.m., Monday, April 30, and then discussed at 6 p.m., May 7. Further meetings may be set in the future, leading up to the June 4 public hearing and adoption of the budget;
• Approved accounts payable of $70,206.72 and the following purchases in excess of $500: to Blue Ribbon Contracting, $8,330 for sewer repair on N. Liberty and $3,090 for sewer repair on Edison; to Tri Co. Water & Sewer, $2,800 for city hall plumbing repair in the women’s bathroom and $1,100 for replacement of tile in the women’s bathroom at city hall; and to Wise Technologies, $651.22 for computers / network;
• Heard an update on the proposed community garden and directed those working on the project to get a detailed recommendation from the Parks and Recreation Commission to present to the city council;
• Discussed the continued delayed completion of the city’s web site redesign that was contracted for in August. City Manager Diana Kollmeyer said they need panoramic pictures of the city and if she can’t find people who will provide them without charge, they may have to hire a photographer. Fire Chief Loranger asked if the site couldn’t go up without pictures which could be added at a later time. “Seems like it’s been a long time … this didn’t happen at the speed contracted for,” he said. Kollmeyer said she is not sure it’s their fault and it is partially the city’s fault. She said Townweb doesn’t know the city and the city had to come up with information. Several local photographers were mentioned. “We’ll get it,” Kollmeyer said;
• Heard Councilman Fielder say that he wanted everyone to notice they just paid $4,000 in repairs on city hall and they can’t keep putting money into an old building. The council will have to make some significant decisions in the future, he said;
• Heard crossing guard Mary Talaga asked why the city has stopped paying her vacation days for the days after Christmas and Easter, the way she had been paid since 2004. “I get 10 paid holidays. Why were two taken away?” Kollmeyer said she’s contacted the school to ask how they paid their crossing guards. “We need to get to the bottom of this,” she said. Kollmeyer said Easter is not on this payroll and they can get it straightened out by the following payroll;
• Heard Loranger say he went to the Ford Lake Dam meeting and learned nobody had contacted them about the proposed lowering of Belleville Lake in 2019. He said the dam people should be told what the plans are and so should the city of Belleville; and
• Learned the deed transfer for the library will be on the next city council meeting agenda on April 16.