After years of designing, discussing, studying and redesigning, the reconstruction and improvement of downtown Oxford’s southeast parking lot is finally expected to begin Oct. 11.
?(The contractor’s) ready to move in and get this work rolling,? said Susan Bertram, project engineer with Rowe, Inc. ‘They want to start removing pavement on Thursday.?
On Monday night, the Downtown Development Authority approved $641,175.60 worth of contracts which will allow work on the long-awaited project to commence.
It was originally estimated the project would cost $770,000.
The Dryden-based Novak Nurseries, Inc. was unanimously awarded the $493,238.88 construction contract.
Novak Nurseries was the low bidder out of the 13 bids submitted, the highest of which was $643,289.80.
‘I don’t think there’s anything here that says you have a valid reason not to go with your low bid,? Bertram said.
Rowe’s engineers originally estimated construction would cost $570,665. Seven bids came in below that estimate while six exceeded it.
‘The pricing came in very well,? Bertram said. ‘We had a lot of contractors that were hungry for some work this year. I think the pricing that we see shows that.?
‘I really appreciate you (Rowe) getting 13 bids,? said DDA member Dave Weckle. ‘I think this is going to be a great opportunity for us to move forward.?
Bertram noted that Rowe has previously worked with Novak Nurseries on three jobs in the past 1? years, including a parking lot project in the Village of Metamora this summer.
A preconstruction meeting for the southeast lot project is set for Wednesday, Oct. 10.
Construction is proposed to take place over a period of approximately 10 weeks in two phases between October and early December with a minimum of 75 parking spaces being maintained for public use at all times.
Depending on the weather and relocation of utilities, placement of the top layer of asphalt along with clean-up, restoration and landscaping may have to be finished up in the spring, according to the preliminary schedule submitted by Novak Nurseries.
Plans call for increasing the number of parking spaces from 138 to 153; realigning Mill Street between E. Burdick and Stanton street so it curves to the east and lines up with the new section between Stanton and Broadway streets behind the Oxford Bank Finance Center; repaving the entire southeast lot with asphalt including the temporary gravel lot, which has been closed since June 13; and re-configuring the parking rows so they run north-south, instead of east-west as they currently do.
Stanton will remain a two-way street and have no on-street parking between S. Washington and Mill streets. The idea of making part of it a one-way street with seven on-street parking spaces was scrapped.
The DDA also approved utility contracts with DTE Energy ($40,325.26), AT&T ($33,156.90) and Charter Communications ($11,619.56).
DTE’s going to be relocating its power poles in the southeast lot and installing two new underground services.
‘One of the things that Detroit Edison let us know is when they are transferring those high tension power lines, they will shut down quite a bit of that back area, if not all of it because they can’t take the liability of someone getting electrocuted,? Bertram said. ‘The utility relocation that has to take place back there is major. That power line that runs through there comes out of the substation on East St. It’s the main feed for the village.?
The ‘shut down? Bertram mentioned referred to closure of the parking lot and adjacent sidewalk to the public during the pole relocation.
Bertram’s not sure if businesses in the southeast quadrant will lose temporarily power during the move, but she told the DDA board that DTE’s ‘going to try and keep everybody live.?
After DTE moves its poles, AT&T and Charter will have to relocate their lines onto these new poles. Whether or not businesses will temporarily lose their phone service from AT&T is also uncertain, Bertram said.
‘The utility companies should be letting their customers know if there’s going to be an outage,? she said.
Charter also plans to relocate its service lines leading to the back of the buildings from overhead to underground, where DTE and AT&T already have theirs. This work would be done from 1-4 a.m. so as not to interrupt service, which includes cable TV, phone and internet.
‘They don’t want to put people out of service during the day when businesses are operating,? Bertram said.
Rowe was awarded a $62,835 contract to oversee the entire project, which includes contract administration, construction engineering and construction observation.