Sandy situation takes Charles City renovation project by surprise

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

The Charles City Council held a special meeting in lieu of its regular workshop on Wednesday, May 28, to approve two time-sensitive change orders for the City Hall/Police Department Renovation Project.

Behind both change orders is the revelation that City Hall is, literally, built on a foundation of sand. While plans for the original building indicated that there was supposed to be a layer of compressed soil under the building, instead it turns out that the building is sitting on about seven feet of sand.

“That’s led to some issues when it comes to putting in sewer and pipes under ground,” said City Administrator Steve Diers.

As a result, plans for the outer wall running alongside the pedestrian mall need to be changed to allow for the addition of new footings and support pieces at a cost of $82,426.92, which is the least expensive option out of the alternatives of removing the roof trusses and recalibrating the wall entirely or mixing an epoxy into the sand to solidify it.

A second change order was approved to change the plumbing for the police garage to include a pit and submersible pump for the garage’s floor drain, at a cost of $16,203.01.

Underground conflicts were an issue last year as well as the council accepted the final pay request from Wicks Construction for the 2024 Permeable Paving Project, which placed permeable pavers along Howard Street. Coming in at a total of $770,373.10, the project encountered about 5% overrun due to unanticipated conflicts with the sanitary and storm sewers.

In other business, the council met with representatives from Hinson Consulting to begin its search for a new city administrator.

Brent Hinson and Marketa Oliver introduced themselves to the council and explained how they will interview council members and staff to determine what the city is looking for in an administrator and how they will recruit candidates for interviews.

“We want you to have a well-structured process,” said Hinson.

City Administrator Diers has accepted a job in Clear Lake and intends to leave his Charles City position at the end of June. In the meantime, City Engineer John Fallis, who has been trying to retire for at least four years as the city looks for a replacement, has agreed to stay on the job to facilitate a smooth transition.

The council also received an update on the city’s transit system from Tammy Elthon of Circle K Communications. One year into a two-year contract, Circle K is keeping busy providing transit service for the community. New technology like tablets that provide real-time tracking for buses and the adoption of a ticket system being well received by riders have been beneficial to the service.

On the other hand, the ever-present need for more drivers and demand for seats, particularly during the school year, are ongoing struggles for the company.

The council also approved a co-location agreement with WIN Fiber for the latter to continue to keep its equipment at City Hall and approved the second reading of a change to the Unified Development Ordinance to allow for the construction of more than one duplex on a lot in order to facilitate the upcoming Kading housing development.