Drainage and sewage projects will be the first major bond-funded tax initiative capital improvement projects to start construction, followed soon thereafter by several parks projects and fire station upgrades, according to a presentation by the project manager Monday to the Pine Bluff City Council.
ETC Engineers Inc. President Mizan Rahman gave the aldermen a color-coded spreadsheet with estimated time tables for all for the projects. Rahman said he will update the spreadsheet monthly.
Beginning first, according to Rahman’s timetable, will be the Pitts Drain and Walker Lake drainage improvement project, scheduled to start construction in June. The project to extend sewer service along U.S. 63 beyond the Interstate 530 overpass is also scheduled to start construction in June.
In July, construction is scheduled to begin on the new combined restroom and concession stand facility at Townsend Park, the restrooms at Martin Luther King Park and the fishing pier where Brumps Bayou empties into Lake Saracen.
In August, construction is scheduled to begin on the project to improve lighting at three ball fields at Townsend Park and on the project to extend the Lake Saracen Walking Trail farther around the lake.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
In September, construction is scheduled to begin on the project to remodel Pine Bluff Fire and Emergency Services Station No. 6 at Moreland Street and the project to remodel Station No. 2 at Pullen Avenue.
The project to build a splash park near Lake Saracen is scheduled to start construction in October, followed by the relocation of Fire Station No. 3 at 30th Avenue and Ash Street to elsewhere nearby and the remodeling of a building to serve as a police headquarters in spring 2013.
The City Council approved 7-0 Monday a resolution that outlines a list of engineers, project costs and professional fees associated with several of those projects. Rahman and the city’s public works coordinator, Larry Matthews, introduced the proposal to the aldermen.
“We’ve concentrated most of our time with the bond money that we’ve already [issued] in the first phase and what we will do once we get the engineers and architects on board for these projects, then Mizan and staff can go ahead and start looking at the other projects as to the feasibility of which way to go with it,” Matthews said.
The projects are associated with the five-eighth-cent sales tax initiative that was approved by voters in February 2011. The city issued the first group of bonds in October 2011 and has three years from that date to complete the first group of projects, which total $9 million and include equipment and projects for the fire, police, street and parks departments.
Before the group of projects included in the proposed resolution, the other expenditures so far from the tax money have been for things like equipment, street overlays, new fire trucks and police cars. This is the first group of more visible, brick-and-mortar projects to move toward a starting construction date.
Future projects include a multipurpose recreation center, downtown streetscape and a new animal shelter.
The proposed resolution came to the aldermen from an eight-member committee made up of city staff who reviewed the proposals from the engineering firms the city received in response to its advertised request for qualifications.
The resolution includes the following details for each project:
• Fire Station No. 2 renovation — Reed Architectural Firm of Pine Bluff, $271,000 expected cost of construction and $21,680 maximum professional fee allowed.
• Fire Station No. 6 renovation — Reed Architectural Firm of Pine Bluff, $292,000 expected cost of construction and $23,360 maximum professional fee allowed.
• Fire Station No. 3 replacement — A.W. Nelson Architectural Firm of Pine Bluff, $2.17 million expected cost of construction and $141,050 maximum fee allowed.
• Lake Saracen Walking Trail extension — McClelland Consulting Engineers Inc. of Little Rock, $157,000 expected cost of construction with $125,000 of that coming from a state grant and a to-be-determined hourly rate for service because the plans for the project have not yet been drawn up so the full extent of the services could not be estimated. The compensation cost will come from bond issue funds.
• Brumps Bayou fishing pier construction — McClelland Consulting Engineers Inc. of Little Rock, $100,000 expected cost of construction provided entirely by a state grant and a to-be-determined hourly rate for service that will be paid from bond issue funds.
• Splash park construction — ETC Engineers and Architects Inc. of Little Rock, $329,000 expected cost of construction and $24,026 maximum fee allowed.
• Townsend Park ball fields lighting upgrades — ETC Engineers and Architects Inc. of Little Rock, $105,000 expected cost of construction and $7,455 maximum fee allowed.
• Townsend Park restroom/concession stand construction — ETC Engineers and Architects Inc. of Little Rock, $127,500 expected cost of project and $10,200 maximum fee allowed.
The Parks Department also has about $435,000 in state grants that it can apply to the splash park and ball field lighting projects.