City plans eight major capital improvements

Fairfield has eight public works projects involving streets, sewer and water lines on tap this summer and a meeting was held at city hall Thursday to answer the public?s questions.

?I?m glad to learn this [separating storm water and sanitary sewer] project is a phased project,? said resident John Maguire.

The city?s sewer system has rain run-off draining into the sanitary sewer and if the volume of storm water is too much, it causes the entire sewer, including raw sewage, to overflow into nearby creeks and sometimes in areas above ground.

?The E. coli load goes through the system very fast,? said Shawn Worley, superintendent of Fairfield?s wastewater treatment plant. ?The percentage meets or is lower than our standards.?

The federal Environmental Protection Agency?s 1972 Clean Water Act requires no E. coli in storm sewers.

Fairfield has been working with the Department of Natural Resources for several years to meet the goals.

?We have made progress,? said city council member Daryn Hamilton. ?The city is at the point of needing to spend money to improve infrastructure. Five years ago, a half-inch of rain would overload the system. Now, we can handle an inch of rain with no problems. We need to get to the 5-inches of rain level.?

Worley said the first phase of improvements at the wastewater treatment plant would start in spring 2014 and take a year to 18 month to complete.

?We need to get rid of a bottleneck where the main line crosses under Highway 34 and goes off toward Lamson Woods,? said Worley. ?The lift station can handle large volumes of water ? the pipes can?t. We need to replace the pipes with a larger size.?

Three of the eight summer projects have been awarded:

? Sanitary sewer replacement in the 200 block of West Jefferson Avenue came in at $71,700, or $57,300 lower than the estimated cost. The contractor will be approved at the next city council meeting.

The project involves replacing 515 feet of sanitary sewer and two manholes. Sewer laterals will be replaced to the trench walls. The street will be patched along with the sewer project.

The street will be closed to traffic. The contractor will notify residents before closing. It is anticipated to be completed by the end of September.

?As during any project, some utilities or services, such as cable and such, could be temporarily interrupted,? said Melanie Carlson, engineer with French-Reneker ?Associates Inc., working on the projects.

? Libertyville Road/Highway 1 sanitary sewer extension was awarded to Drish Construction for $31,940, or $16,060 below the estimated cost.

The work will start in August to add 442 feet of sewer from the southeast corner of the Doug Johnson Dialysis Center, across Libertyville Road to the northwest corner of Libertyville Road and Highway 1. The sewer under Libertyville Road will be bored. Completion is expected by Sept. 30.

? Seventh Street, Jefferson Avenue and Hempstead Avenue water main replacement was awarded to Cross Iron Excavating at $93,390, or $36,610 below estimated cost.

The project entails replacing approximately 1,550 feet of 6-inch cast iron water main with new PVC water main and replacing service line and curb valves. It is expected to be completed by Sept. 30.

More opportunities for public

Pathfinders Resource Conservation and Development will give a public presentation at 1:30 p.m. Monday at Fairfield Public Library about the area watershed, said Hamilton.

?It will be a little different viewpoint, but covers the same ground,? he said.

Carlson said another public meeting/open house type of informational meeting will be held about the sewer and water infrastructure projects before August. The engineering teams and city staff will be available to provide information to the public.

Hamilton added a Fairfield City Council Utilities Committee meeting at 6 p.m. July 17, at city hall also would provide more information.

?Each phase of the project will need three readings at the council meetings,? said Hamilton. ?I envision having public information available and displays about the projects in between the readings.?

Two more bids to let

Two projects scheduled this summer will be done by city crews:

? Glasgow aerial sewer repair, to be worked on in July, includes replacing a concrete support pier on an aerial sewer crossing between Glasgow Road and Middle Glasgow Road.

? West Fillmore Avenue project; crews will repair approximately 500 feet of shallow sanitary sewer main located at the west end of Fillmore Avenue.

C L Electrical Services will install two 30-kilowatt horsepower diesel generators at lift stations to keep the lift stations operational during power outages.

A sanitary sewer lining project is yet to be let. Lining will be installed in approximately 3,000 feet of sanitary sewer throughout the city. The majority of the work will be done on the west side of the collection system.

Work is anticipated to begin in the fall.

Maple Street and Harrison Avenue resurfacing and 14th Street patching will be let for bids in July.

The project includes resurfacing five blocks of residential streets on Maple Street from Madison Avenue to Harrison Avenue; and on Harrison Avenue from Maple Street to Highland Avenue, with 3-inches of asphalt overlay.

Carlson said traffic will be shut out during the day, and residents may need to park on side streets.

City crews will be doing concrete patching prior to the overlay.

Asphalt will be laid on 14th Street and at the west entrance off 14th Street to Fairfield Hy-Vee Food and Drug Store and gas station.

Maps of the projects marked are available at city hall and a copy was published on page 7 Wednesday in The Ledger.