City of Ukiah staff are scheduled to open bids Tuesday for long-awaited work to replace a storm drain at the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds that many residents have reported causes flooding in the facility’s parking lot and nearby school grounds.
The plans for the repair were approved by the Ukiah City Council earlier this month as part of the Consent Calendar prepared for its June 4 meeting.
Prior to its approval, Council member Susan Sher asked why the city was helping pay for the storm drain replacement, as she “always assumed that the (Redwood Empire) Fairgrounds was owned by the state of California, so I’m wondering why are we paying half of that large maintenance fee for a new (storm drain)?”
“The storm drain collects a lot of water from the city area, then it goes through the fairgrounds, where it also then collects some runoff at the fairgrounds,” said Public Works Director Tim Eriksen, explaining that the storm drain was built in 1962 as a “joint effort” between the city and the fairgrounds, “and we’re trying to reflect some version of (joint effort) as we try and get this thing fixed.”
And while he went on to explain that “the negotiations to actually get it fixed are not finalized, the city agreed that we would get the plans and specifications done, so we’re moving forward with that. But I have (told fairgrounds officials) that if we don’t have an agreed-upon negotiation on the actual funding, we won’t award the bid.”
At the time the storm drain was first put in more than 60 years ago, City Manager Sage Sangiacomo said the deal was sealed between the city and fairgrounds officials with a “handshake,” and that the split in costs were “about two-thirds fairgrounds, one third the city. But in recognition of being fair, we have essentially reversed that equation in the offer, but we are holding firm to that offer, and that (the fairgrounds) do need to participate in (the repairs). And we’re also holding firm that the agreement for easement, or access, needs to take place, because there were things that were built over this infrastructure that would inhibit it from going into exactly where it is today, and if we’re going to put up city funds for it, we want to make sure that (either) the responsibility for access and easement is there in case (of future maintenance needs),” or that the city is given a release of liability.
“Those are all the things that are currently under negotiation at this time, and everybody is working cooperatively to reach a resolution and get this infrastructure in place,” Sangiacomo said.
Council member Juan Orozco asked if there were any way to capture and store some of the water “that drains out of the (storm drain) for months at a time, because it is a lot of water that we see going across the parking lot there for months.”
Unfortunately, Eriksen explained that currently “there is no infrastructure to get (the water) back to a place where we could store it, and no place to actually store the water. But I could see that as something we would want to do in the future.”
The council then approved plans for the replacement of the storm drain, which was estimated by city staff to cost $823,630.
Bids for the project are expected to be opened on Tuesday, July 1, at 2 p.m. Attend the opening in person at the Civic Center Council Chambers at 300 Seminary Ave., or online at: us06web.zoom.us/j/85126037291
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