At Tuesday night’s meeting, the City Commission received an update on the First Street water tank project and approved an amended low-interest loan agreement with the State to account for increased costs.
The existing water tank stores all of Newton’s drinking water before it is pumped to the City’s four elevated water towers. The 3.8 million-gallon tank, which was built in 1939, is now severely deteriorated and must be replaced. The plan is to build one new 1.9 million-gallon tank before demolishing the existing tank and replacing it with a second 1.9 million-gallon tank. This will allow in the future for one tank to be taken down for maintenance and still leave the community with a steady water supply.
Construction on the first tank began in May 2022. The contractor, Preload LLC, was able to remove material and stabilize the base for the tank footings, and testing began on the soils. Although this site had been previously cleaned up by BNSF, as documented by the Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), contaminated soils were found. KDHE stopped the project to determine the extent of the contamination and how the project could proceed. After much review of data, sampling, and design plans, the State has now approved the project moving forward with a few changes to the pipeline plans.
Because the project has sat idle for over 10 months, material and labor costs have increased, causing a change order of about $670,000. The contaminated soil is considered special waste, which must be hauled off-site to an approved landfill, causing a change order of about $900,000.
The State agreed to add the extra costs to the existing loan at its very low interest rate. The new loan amount is $8,347,473 through the Kansas Public Water Supply Loan Fund at a gross interest rate of 1.26% per year.
Construction is expected to resume in September, according to Preload’s current schedule.
The Commission approved plans for construction on K-15 from BNSF Railway crossing to the northern city limits and on West 12th Street from Main Street to the Sand Creek bridge. The majority of the project will be mill and overlay work, with some full-depth pavement replacement, ADA ramp improvements and pavement markings.
The construction will be phased, first with closure of the inside lanes on K-15 and the eastbound lane on 12th Street while milling, patching, and paving operations occur. The second phase will include closure of the outside lanes of K-15 and the westbound lane on 12th Street. Each phase is anticipated to last 2-4 weeks, depending on weather.
The total project cost is estimated at $1.5 million, with $300,000 being funded by the State’s City Connecting Links Improvement Program (CCLIP). The City will set a bid date when final approval is received from the State.
IdeaTek expects to begin work in the next two-three weeks on expansion of their fiber network in Newton. They plan to begin in the area west of Main and south of 12th Street, placing main lines underground and overhead in the public right-of-way. This means they may be accessing residents’ front yards, backyards and alleyways. They anticipate running 1,000-3,500 feet per week. A letter from IdeaTek is going out to the affected areas, and they will provide door hangers at least two days prior to the work.
Residents with concerns should call Community & Public Relations Manager James Krstolich at 620-899-1993 or jkrstolich@ideatek.com.
- Opted not to make any requested changes to the Animal Control Ordinances regarding pot-bellied pigs, roosters or goats.
- Proclaimed May 14-20 as National Police Week and May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day.
- Proclaimed May 21-27 as Public Works Week.
- Proclaimed May 21-27 as EMS Week.
- Approved a request from The Gathering to close the Sixth Street parking lot on May 28 for Backyard Pop-Up Church.
- Approved a request for snow fencing along West First Street from Sand Creek to the west side of the arena on June 10-11 for the Junior Rodeo.
- Reviewed 2024 budget information for some General Fund departments.
For more information, please contact Director of Communications Erin McDaniel at 316-284-6055 or emcdaniel@newtonkansas.com.
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