MONROE - The Monroe Board of Public Works wants a quote from a second engineering and design services firm, to compare to the one quote from Short, Elliot and Hendrickson of Madison, submitted to the board Monday by the city's utilities director, Alan Eckstein.
The city is seeking an engineering firm for its 2013 water and sanitary sewer replacement project.
Board President Reid Stangel said he wanted another quote "just to do due diligence." The board voted unanimously to get a second quote.
The 2013 utilities project includes replacing 320 feet of undersized, 4-inch water main and about 2,500 feet of aging sanitary sewer lines near downtown Monroe and to the northeast.
Al Gerber, city engineering supervisor, said the utilities and street departments have always tried to coordinate their annual work to avoid the extra cost of opening roads for replacements and repairs. 2013 marks the first year of more concerted efforts to dovetail utility replacements with summer road repairs.
City Administrator Phil Rath said the city is preparing to create a long-term project, perhaps as long as 10 years, to replace old, undersized water mains, which can cause reduced water pressure, particularly bad for fighting fire. Fire hydrants are also in the long-range plan. The time factor will be limited by annual funding for the project, he added.
Planning is essential, because "you can't just have a six-inch pipe suddenly feed in to a four-inch pipe," he said, "or it'll burst."
Eckstein said he submitted only the one quote from SEH for $34,000, believing it was an acceptable amount. He also added that getting a second quote might delay the completion of engineering services in time to make the replacements, before the street department has to close and repair the streets this fall.
The neighborhoods affected include 15th Avenue from 9th to 12th street; 21st Avenue from 6th to 9th street; 22nd Avenue from 11th to 12th street; and 24th Avenue 7th to 8th street.
The city is seeking an engineering firm for its 2013 water and sanitary sewer replacement project.
Board President Reid Stangel said he wanted another quote "just to do due diligence." The board voted unanimously to get a second quote.
The 2013 utilities project includes replacing 320 feet of undersized, 4-inch water main and about 2,500 feet of aging sanitary sewer lines near downtown Monroe and to the northeast.
Al Gerber, city engineering supervisor, said the utilities and street departments have always tried to coordinate their annual work to avoid the extra cost of opening roads for replacements and repairs. 2013 marks the first year of more concerted efforts to dovetail utility replacements with summer road repairs.
City Administrator Phil Rath said the city is preparing to create a long-term project, perhaps as long as 10 years, to replace old, undersized water mains, which can cause reduced water pressure, particularly bad for fighting fire. Fire hydrants are also in the long-range plan. The time factor will be limited by annual funding for the project, he added.
Planning is essential, because "you can't just have a six-inch pipe suddenly feed in to a four-inch pipe," he said, "or it'll burst."
Eckstein said he submitted only the one quote from SEH for $34,000, believing it was an acceptable amount. He also added that getting a second quote might delay the completion of engineering services in time to make the replacements, before the street department has to close and repair the streets this fall.
The neighborhoods affected include 15th Avenue from 9th to 12th street; 21st Avenue from 6th to 9th street; 22nd Avenue from 11th to 12th street; and 24th Avenue 7th to 8th street.