Council committee endorses Midtown storm sewer project

The city could spend $3.3 million to replace the Jacob’s Valley storm sewer system in Midtown.

The Common Council’s Finance and Audit Committee on Wednesday moved forward resolutions authorizing Mayor Steve Noble to award a contract to W.M. Schultz Construction Inc. of Ballston Spa for system replacement and for the city to borrow $3,350,000 to cover the cost of the project.

Of the borrowed money, W.M. Schultz would be paid $2,546,400 for the construction work, while another nearly $260,000 would be earmarked for construction administration and inspection services.

The bonding amount also includes a contingency fund for potential project overruns, as well as $282,000 that previously was authorized by the council to pay for engineering and design work.

The construction administration and inspection services would be performed by H2M, an architectural and engineering firm on Long Island that also performed the engineering and design work for the project.

The resolutions still must go to the full Common Council for approval next month.

City Engineer Ralph Swenson said W.M. Schultz submitted the lowest responsible bid among the three that came in. He said the firm also uses an apprenticeship program, which the city requires for certain projects.

The other bids were $2,595,500 from Grant Street Construction and $2,879,000 from Kingston Equipment Rental. The city’s prebid cost estimate for the project was about $2.8 million.

Swenson said the construction administration and inspection services amount is the maximum the city would pay.

“We generally pay consultants on an hourly basis,” he told the commit-

tee. “So if the contractor works really fast and gets done fast, there won’t be as much administration and inspection cost, so that number will come down, perhaps, some.”

The Jacob’s Valley stormwater system travels from Broadway down Pine Grove Avenue and extends to Susan,

Summer and Sterling streets, ending at a property owned by CSX. The system discharges into a box culvert on the CSX property that goes under the railroad tracks.

Part of the replacement

project is to include realigning the pipelines further away from the tracks on the CSX property.

The city has obtained an easement to work on railroad property, Swenson said.