‘It’s not going to be pretty’

A local business owner visited Creston Waterworks’ monthly board meeting on the eve of expanded construction in Uptown Creston, criticizing the work of contractors on Montgomery Street and raising concerns.

Montgomery and Adams streets are part of the same division in the utility’s water main improvement project. This division is contracted to United Utilities, who will begin construction on Adams in the near future.

In response to complaints for the work on Montgomery, waterworks said they’d be willing to hold conversations with the contractor to improve quality and communication.

Montgomery

Loretta Harvey, owner of businesses on Montgomery Street including Liberty Hall, BM Sales and Harvey Law Office, visited the utility to discuss what she’s seen on the road outside her businesses.

Harvey said construction over the last six months was miserable for her and her businesses. She was grateful for the infrastructure improvements, but she criticized the contractors and called them inefficient.

On days when events were hosted in Liberty Hall, Harvey said patrons found navigating around the construction difficult. Due to increased presence of water mixed with poor weather, mud became a common issue.

“Because of all the tubing and digging, the whole month of November was mud,” Harvey said. “The street was just full of mud.”

Gravel strips were put in place following construction, but Harvey said this only exasperated problems, creating slush and more mud. Harvey also said the contractors did not properly notify businesses when they would be working, which made planning around construction another problem.

Access to the buildings for any mobility-impaired visitors requiring walkers or wheelchairs was described by Harvey as a nightmare.

Water wasn’t able to be guaranteed in either the law office or Liberty Hall during construction. Harvey couldn’t promise there would be water for Christmas events in December, or water for end-of-year client visits at the law office.

In February, construction continued. Equipment for the projects were left in the construction area, with Harvey saying keys were left in the vehicles. She feared there was a chance someone could activate the equipment and cause damage to the surrounding areas.

Harvey appealed to Creston Waterworks to review the contracts for the water main improvement project. She also criticized the utility for not using a local contractor.

The waterworks has hired multiple contractors for each division of the project. While the contractor for Montgomery and Adams streets, United Utilities, is based in Council Bluffs, C&J Conservation, which has worked on Cherry Street and will work on Division Street this year, is based in Creston. Crain Construction, based in Clarinda, worked on Mills Street last year.

Members of the board apologized to Harvey for the inconveniences she faced with the construction and said they would look at revising their contract language to encourage better quality and communication.

Adams

Construction on Adams Street is expected to start on either Monday or March 23, depending on weather. Starting with a section on Walnut Street, construction will head west along Adams Street until the intersection with Sumner.

To the chagrin of many small business owners on the north side of Adams Street, the waterworks’ contractors will be working in the diagonal parking and sidewalks of Adams.

In addition, when gravel backfill is placed in certain areas following work on the sidewalk and street, those areas won’t be surfaced with concrete until the city completes their linear park project. While this will save money for both entities, the side effect could see similar issues to those seen on Montgomery.

“This is assuming [the linear park project] is approved by the city council, and we can adjust on the fly,” Waterworks General Manager Steve Guthrie said. “But we have to coordinate to save costs for both projects. A: they don’t have as much labor. B: we won’t have as much concrete to put back.”

Between Pine Street and Division, the contractor won’t surface with concrete, leaving gravel in those areas until the city finishes the linear park project.

“I’m being told that the linear project is trying to get started by July, but I don’t know with the linear park project, I’m not sure the timeline there because it’s all dependent on state review,” Guthrie said.

Fire hydrants on the north sidewalks of Adams will need to be moved into parking spaces for the project, and will be fenced off to prevent vandalism or damage.

“It’s not going to be pretty, and it’s going to look really funny for a while,” Guthrie lamented.

Two-way traffic should still be possible on Adams Street due to the nature of the construction. Construction on the water main improvement project on Adams is scheduled to end by the end of August.

The city council will discuss plans for the linear park project during Tuesday’s regular meeting.

In other waterworks news...

Creston Waterworks approved their budget for the next fiscal year. Dropping their budget by $2 million, the utility expects next year’s revenue and expenses to be a zero net gain or loss, with $7,663,100 budgeted for both revenue and expenses.

The next steps for the budget will have to be approved by the city, followed by a public hearing for the total budget of the city sometime in May.

Pay applications for the water main improvement project and the lead service line replacement project were approved. For work on Montgomery Street, the waterworks paid $169,662.41 and $4,426.05. For work on Cherry Street, the waterworks paid $8,633.09 and $2,109.