Two new parking lots planned for North Cedar Terrace

By Kelly Terpstra, kterpstra@charlescitypress.com

As a landlord, the Charles City Housing Authority oversees approximately 150 tenants who participate in the public housing program within the town’s borders.

For some of those residents, stepping out of a car and walking along a sidewalk can be a challenge.

That’s one of the reasons Charles City Housing Authority Director Heidi Nielsen said it’s time for an upgrade to the parking lots and sidewalks that envelop the North and South Cedar Terraces.

“You’re setting a good example for the community,” said Mayor Dean Andrews.

Nielsen addressed the City Council at a planning workshop on Monday and broke down a proposed plan that involves sidewalk rehabilitation along with two new paved parking lots. Nielsen said one of the parking lots that could be constructed at North Cedar Terrace would be wheelchair-accessible.

“That’s kind of what started the idea of, ‘hey, let’s add some more parking,’” said Nielsen.

Proposed work would entail repair to sidewalks that would eliminate tripping hazards at South Cedar Terrace. Sidewalks would be ground down, poly-lifted and replaced. Some of the parking area would also be improved with an overlay.

The project calls for 427 linear feet of concrete grinding and 361 square yards of removing and replacing concrete. According to plans, 1,835 square yards of asphalt milling and overlay work would be done.

The two new parking lots at North Cedar Terrace would be an add alternate bid and also include lot expansion.

The parking lot would add an additional 26 parking spaces. Currently there are about 38 parking spaces for off-street parking and that total would rise to 64 spots with construction of new lots. There are 52 apartments at North Cedar Terrace.

“I just feel like this is something that’s important to make us more competitive, especially with some of the changes with public housing that might be potentially coming up,” Nielsen added.

Nielsen said currently many of the residents do not have access to off-street parking and must park on Main Street or Wisconsin Street.

The design team of SEH (Short Elliott Hendrickson) has prepared the plans and specifications for the project.

“We’ve been planning this project for several months now,” said Nielsen.

The project would be funded by the 2018 and 2019 capital fund grants.

“We should have more than enough funding to complete the project,” said Nielsen.

At the next regular meeting scheduled for Monday, March 2, the project should be an agenda item so council members can vote on a public hearing date that would be March 16. Nielsen said bids would be due back April 1.

“This whole project fits in nicely with our sidewalk thing,” said council member DeLaine Freeseman.

Pat Callahan discussed with city leaders and council members a capital improvement plan for Charles City. Callahan heads Callahan Municipal Consultants LLC., which would help facilitate a long-range goal for the planning, scheduling, and financing of large construction projects and the purchasing of major pieces of equipment by the city.

The capital improvement plan links the city’s comprehensive plan and budget. It was listed as one of the top goals by Charles City and could be a six-year, long-term plan.

Callahan would work with city leaders and department heads to rank or prioritize such projects or purchases after receiving feedback from the city.

Callahan quoted a range of $6,500, but not to exceed $11,000, to complete the capital improvement plan process.

Work is almost complete by Heartland Asphalt with the South Main/North Jackson Street SWAP Project. The Iowa Department of Transportation identified some ADA (American with Disabilities Act) sidewalk ramps it wanted to still construct.

Three percent is the required retainage amount applied to Iowa DOT projects. The city is holding approximately $25,000 as retainage for the project. That amount exceeds the remaining work that needs to be done.

City Engineer John Fallis is recommending the council reduce the retainage percentage to just over 1% for an amount of approximately $10,000. The balance of the retainage would then be released by paying Heartland Asphalt roughly $15,000.

Other projects that were discussed at the workshop were as follows:

– The council talked about accepting the $118,000 Clark Street Trail Project after the Iowa DOT audits were finalized. The final paperwork has been submitted and now the project has to be voted on to be accepted. A change order for $12,000 added additional cost for work associated with providing more rock material.

– Additional construction fees that totaled over $34,000 were discussed concerning work done on Hildreth Street and Riverside Drive, as well as North Jackson and South Main streets.

Unusually wet weather and flooding of the Cedar River made it more difficult for construction to be done on those projects. A supplemental agreement with SEH would address design work done that totaled 190 more hours of observation and 75 hours of construction administration done by that company.

– A change order for $7,000 was discussed for the $1.4 million Hildreth Street Project.