| Crews work on the new storm drains in Orangeville. |
At the May meeting of the Castle Valley Special Service District, Darrel Leamaster explained the situation surrounding the projects completed by the district in 2005. “It’s a sad situation,” he stated. “We were reimbursed by Huntington and Castle Dale for some of the work done in those cities, but we ended the year more than $84,000 over budget. This overrun was taken from the debt service fund,” said Leamaster.
He then explained that at a meeting with the Utah Department of Transportation, the state engineer told all the planners to add 20 percent to all estimates for a contingency factor. The price of materials and fuel is rising so fast, it is their hope that this 20 percent will cover the overruns this year.
Paul Crawford, president of the board for the special service district, stated that all of the curb and gutter projects are expected to be higher due to inspection costs. He also noted that those projects are the ones in which the residents make the most requests for changes.
Leamaster explained that he had gone to the community impact board and requested extra funds to cover the rapidly rising cost, and that board has given the district another $250,000. “Even with the extra money, we have had to cut several blocks from curb and gutter projects for this year and one street in Castle Dale. There is absolutely no money this year for extras. Sometimes after a project begins, the city in which the project is happening, will come to us with change requests. This year there is no room for change. Meetings with property owners will be scheduled to inform residents ahead of time what will be taking place on or near their property. The engineers and city officials will set up these meetings,” said Leamaster.
In the crack sealing project in Cleveland and Elmo, an additional six tons of material was needed to complete the project. The material has been ordered and the project will be completed soon. Following the crack sealing, Hales Construction will come in and lay patches where needed. Beginning early or mid June, the chip sealing project for the streets in those two towns, will start.
As for drainage projects, four towns in Emery County will be having work done. Huntington, Castle Dale, Orangeville and Emery have projects that are under way. Due to the difficulty in getting the pipe needed for the projects, the district board approved to change to a similar type of pipe that is easier to acquire for those jobs. Changing the type of pipe will lower the cost of the projects.
Every town in Emery County will see some street work during the summer months. Nielson’s Construction is the contractor for those projects, and the contract signing and preconstruction meetings are underway.
Dal Hansen Construction has been awarded the contract to do the curb and gutter work this summer. One block has been eliminated in Ferron, and one in Orangeville has been changed to another street. The preconstruction meetings for the curb and gutter projects will be held soon.
Jamie Luce and Jenna Madsen have been hired to work as receptionist and accountant. Luce will work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and Madsen will be in the office on Thursday and Friday.
Leamaster informed the representatives from each city that the 2007 projects list must be turned into the district by July 1. Due to the difficult engineering and estimation procedures dealing with the rising costs of construction, the district will need a little added time to get their requests into the CIB by August. These lists will deal only with roads, curb, gutter, water, sewer, drainage and secondary water issues.
At a recent Association of Special Districts meeting, Leamaster was informed that each special service district in the state should have bylaws in place. “We have never had any bylaws due to attorney opinion when we first formed the district in 1976-1977. Our attorney now thinks we should have them,” stated Leamaster. The board approved to begin the process of drawing up bylaws for the district.
Leamaster announced that the county has dropped several B and C roads, and he suggested that the board look into updating the maps. The current maps have not been updated since 1999, and Leamaster feels it would be advantageous to begin the process. The board approved, and instructed Leamaster to set up a meeting with Morris Sorensen of the county road department.