Public Works moving to new EWU building

Bid accepted for construction of second drive-through lane

The city of El Dorado sealed the deal on the purchase of an office building to add a second drive-through, payment lane for the El Dorado Water Utilities.

The El Dorado City Council voted Wednesday on a bid for the project and an additional purpose for the building: the Department of Public Works will have a new home base.

Council members took a suggestion from Robert Edmonds, director of public works, who asked for their thoughts on relocating DPW offices from City Hall to the new office building, which is located at 512 N. Washington next to the EWU office.

The building formerly housed the office of

Larry Holder, CPA.

Earlier this year, city officials agreed to purchase the building with an offer of $150,000 to alleviate traffic backups in the existing drivethrough lane at the EWU office.

Edmonds, city officials and EWU staff have said that drive-through traffic can stretch for a more than a block between the EWU office and Grove Street during certain periods each month when customers flood the drive-through to pay their water bills.

The problem was exacerbated while the lobby in the EWU office was closed to the public for several months because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and customers could not go inside to make payments.

Simmons First Bank on Grove Street offered assistance by agreeing to accept EWU payments in one of the bank’s drive-through lanes.

Edmonds said Tuesday the Simmons First option is still available to customers but the payment method “is not as popular.”

John Peppers, general manager of the EWU, has also said that of the payment options — which also include Internet, phone and an exterior deposit slot in the existing EWU drive-through lane —, the majority of EWU customers use the drive-through window each month.

Edmonds said the purchase of the new building cleared last month and during an El Dorado Water and Public Works Board meeting Wednesday, he told council members that the property had been cleaned up and the building cleaned out.

He then asked for the city council’s thoughts on relocating the Department of Public Works.

“There’s plenty of room and it would clear up some office space in City Hall,” Edmonds said.

The EWU falls under the city’s public works’ umbrella and Edmonds said that placing the two city departments side by side will allow for a better working relationship.

“We do have a large, multi-million-dollar project coming up that we’re both going to be working on,” Edmonds said, referring to an effort to replace the city’s two, aging wastewater treatment plants, both of which were built in the 1970s.

Council Member Dianne Hammond asked if the city code enforcement and electrical/ plumbing inspector’s offices will also be moved to the North Washington Avenue building and Edmonds said yes.

Council Member Paul Choate asked how long the move will take, shifting the focus back to the drive-through construction project.

Edmonds told council members that bids were opened Tuesday and the low bid of $285,000 was submitted by Diversified Construction and Design.

Diversified submitted a deductive bid of

$265,000 for a six-inch concrete slab for the driveway and the base bid of $285,000 for an eight-inch slab.

“What’s the material difference between a sixinch and an eight-inch? I know the costs but will a six-inch driveway suffice for traffic flow?” Choate asked.

“It might but I recommend the eight-inch,”

Edmonds said.

Choate also asked if the actual bids came close to the estimated cost of the project and Edmonds said yes, noting that the estimate came in at $272,000 in 2020.

Edmonds said the new drive-through will come with two payment windows, one manned by an EWU clerk and the other, with a pneumatic tube.

“It kind of mimics a fast-food lane drivethrough,” he added.

There was also some discussion about adding a night deposit/drop box to collect payments after hours. A drop slot is available to customers in the existing drive-through lane.

Local architect Michael Rogers of MR Designs said a timeline for the completion of the project, which will include a canopy structure, depends on the delivery of building materials.

He told council members that Diversified had expressed such a concern, noting that supplies and deliveries for construction materials have faced delays because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Choate asked if the work will disrupt service in the existing EWU drive-through lane and Rogers said the pneumatic tube will remain in place throughout the duration of the project.

Blann asked if the EWU had adequate staffing for the new drive-through windows and Council Member Vance Williamson, also the chairman of the city’s Finance Committee, asked if the public works department had enough money in its capital improvement budget to cover the cost of the project.

Edmonds answered yes to both questions. The council voted in favor of the $285,000 base bid.