Belleville to start all over on bids for seawall repair

After the city received just one bid, and a high one at that, for repairs to the failing seawall at Doane’s Landing, the city of Belleville is going back to the drawing board.
When Parks Commission member Jeff Vernon asked about Doane’s Landing park at the Jan. 3 city council meeting, the discussion began. He asked if the city couldn’t go through the Department of Natural Resources to get some funds to help with the sea wall repair.
Building Official Rick Rutherford said the city has the survey, engineering, coring and other details and it has searched and reached out for grants and there was nothing. He said maybe with a new year and new budget cycles there could be help.
He said there were glitches in the contractors bids and the city had to redo the bids.
Mayor Kerreen Conley noted there was only one bid and, “Did we find out why?”
The bid, opened at the Nov. 27 meeting, was from E.C. Korneffel Co. of Trenton. It was for $339,230 plus $2,790 to edge the drain with geotech fabric.
Rutherford said one contractor thought the city had federal funds and they would have to pay the prevailing wage.
“One had a fight with his son and didn’t get back to me,” Rutherford continued. “We’re actively seeking bids. As much as I’d like to say here it all is … contractors march to their own drums.”
Councilman Jesse Marcotte said the city needs a five-year Parks and Recreation master plan before it is eligible for government funds. The Parks and Recreation Commission hasn’t met in about five years, but now has some newly appointed members and will meet Jan. 22 at 7 p.m. at city hall.
“We were late in the game last year,” Rutherford said, referring to going out for sea wall bids in November.
“We do have a reputation for being successful in getting grants,” said Councilman Tom Fielder. “Stay on top of it.”
Planning Commissioner Mike Renaud asked if the condo seawall, next door to the park, was included in the cost quoted and Rutherford said it wasn’t.
He said he has been in contact by emails back and forth to the condo group and they wanted to use the same contractor.
“They had a worse time than we did and their bid was a lot higher,” Rutherford said. “Contractors were not wanting to commit themselves. We used the same engineers.”
When asked if the condos could move on alone and fix their seawall, Rutherford said that was possible.
“Then they would sue us because we can’t do ours?” Renaud asked.
Rutherford said he didn’t believe that would happen. He said the job specifications are written, but it would have helped to give the contractors more time.
Mayor Conley asked Rutherford if he could give a realistic time line for the project at the next meeting and he said he could. The council next meets on Tuesday, Jan. 16, at 7:30 p.m. The meeting was moved to a Tuesday instead of the regular Monday meeting time because of the Martin Luther King, Jr. federal holiday on Jan. 15.
In other business at the 38-minute meeting on Jan. 3, the council:
• Approved the Great Lakes Water Authority amendment to the service contract, to reduce the volume cap and peak hourly flow figures to put them more in line with what the city is using. Rutherford said the modest adjustments would save the city from $20,000 to $26,000 a year. He said if the city exceeds the volume set in a five-year cycle, the city would have to renegotiate the figures. He said the city would probably get a pass for extenuating circumstances, such as a large fire or water main break;
• Approved annual permits with Wayne County for pavement restoration, road maintenance, and special events;
• Heard Councilman Marcotte ask for the fire service evaluation to be put on the Council Follow-up List and Mayor Conley said that could be done;
• Heard Mayor Conley say the website upgrade should be farther along than it is. She also said she would like to set a work/study session for the council in the first quarter to discuss goals. That would be done when City Manager Diana Kollmeyer is back from her Florida vacation;
• Heard Councilman Fielder say that it has been the policy in the past to review contracted services after each city council election every two years. Mayor Conley said she would like a report on all the city contractors so the council will know if any need changing;
• Heard Mayor Conley remind residents to remove snow from their sidewalks. She said there had been two snowfalls and, “You can tell those who did nothing.” Rutherford said there have been complaints about the DPW trucks putting snow over shoveled driveways and, “People think you can make that snow go where you want.” Mayor Conley said for seniors or those having difficulties with snow removal, “We can find help for them.” She said a reminder to remove snow will be put on the city’s electronic sign. When asked if there were any tickets written yet for snow, Rutherford said there weren’t. She suggested Rutherford give a copy of the policy on snow removal to offenders and that could be slap on the wrist; and
• Approved accounts payable of $87,272 and the following purchases in excess of $500: to Blue Ribbon Contracting, $9,596.16 for emergency water main repair and $3,021.39 for emergency sewer repair; to Morton Salt, $5,343.90 and $2,789.37 for road salt; to Wise Technologies, $1,165 for computers/phones; and to Superior Auto & Truck, $583.80 for dump truck repair.