Waterworks moves forward with improvement project, 2-year construction awaits

With two years of construction scheduled across four divisions of northern Creston, expect some periodic difficulties in navigating the city as local water works improve water mains.

Creston Water Works’s water distribution system improvement project was approved on Tuesday after no objections were raised in a public hearing. The board approved four bids for the four divisions of the project, hiring three contractors to complete an almost $5 million project. Design was carried out by Garden & Associates, LTD.

The four divisions general area includes: Division 1 - Adams and Montgomery streets, Division 2 - Cherry Street, Division 3 - Mills Street and Division 4 - Division Street.

The board accepted bids from three companies. United Utilities, LLC will handle Division 1 for a bid of $2,820,544.05. C & J Conservation will handle Division 2 and 4 for a bid of $1,079,799.91 and $395,480 respectively. Crain Construction will handle Division 3 for a bid of $509,730.50.

Division 1′s $2.8 million price tag was the only division with a higher bid cost than the engineer’s estimate. General Manager Steve Guthrie said this increased cost wouldn’t have a notable impact on the budget for the project, despite a total increase of 3.7%.

Water mains will be updated for the foreseeable future, although it could cause temporary difficulties in travel. Division 1 had a contracted schedule of 730 working days planned as construction traverses across portions of Adams and Montgomery streets. Construction will begin some time in mid-July or early August in order to avoid conflicts with the annual Fourth of July parade.

One section which all three companies will need to coordinate around is one intersection on Cherry and Mills streets. With three divisions heading in three different directions, this intersection is scheduled to be the final step of the improvement project.

Awarding of contracts for the improvement project will not take place until May’s regular meeting of the water works board.

Detailed areas where waterlines will be replaced include:

- Division 1: Adams Street, from Sumner to Walnut; Division Street, from Adams to Howard; Montgomery Street, from Division to Cherry; Cherry Street, from Montgomery to Mills; Mills Street, from Cherry to Vine; Vine Street, from Mills to Montgomery; approximately 250 feet south of Montgomery Street along Walnut; approximately 250 feet south of Montgomery along Vine (in alleyway); Mills Street, from Division to North; North Street, from Mills to Howard.

- Division 2: Cherry Street, from Mills to Townline.

- Division 3: Mills Street, from Cherry to Ash.

- Division 4: Division Street, from Irving to Seneca; Seneca Street, from Division to Sycamore; the intersection of Irving Street and Oak Street; the intersection of Irving Street and Elm Street.

In other water board news...

Following damage to the Water Works’s water plant roof, the board accepted a bid for repairs after a lengthy discussion. A portion of the southern roof had received damage from recent storms. A tarp and various temporary protections are in place.

Only the south side of the plant’s roof will be repaired, despite both the north side and south side on-schedule of a full repair. Guthrie noted financial trouble with squeezing the repairs for both halves of the building into the fiscal budget of 2025. The board hopes for continued discussion in the next fiscal year for a full repair to the plant’s roof.