Supervisors accept bid for drainage district work 40 percent higher than engineer’s cost estimate

Washington Township landowners face special assessment for 100-year-old ditch and tile system

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In a move contrasting sharply with their reputation for keeping a tight hold on the public purse strings, the Dallas County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to accept a $565,000 bid for dredging work even though the price exceeded the engineer’s estimated cost for the job by more than 40 percent.

By a vote of two to one after lengthy discussion, the supervisors accepted the bid of Keosauqua-based Cole Construction Co. for dredging and excavation work in Washington Township’s Drainage District Six, Dallas County’s largest drainage district.

Dallas County Engineer Jim George has let the bid for the work in Drainage District Six three times since last summer, and all bids exceed the original cost estimate for the project.
Dallas County Engineer Jim George let the bid for the work in Drainage District Six three times since last summer, and all bids exceed the original cost estimate for the project.

“That was easy,” said Dallas County Engineer Jim George jokingly after the supervisors ended a process extending nearly three years and going through three rounds of bid letting, with a fourth round on the horizon.

Clive-based McClure Engineering Co. provided George with an estimate of $394,000 for the dredging work. At $565,000, the bid accepted Tuesday exceeds McClure’s estimate by 43 percent.

Dallas County Auditor Gene Krumm held three bid lettings for the repair job. The first letting, in October 2014, received no bids, so the supervisors re-advertised the job. The second letting was in February 2015, and a single bid was received from Elder Corp. of Pleasant Hill at a cost of $624,000.

The supervisors felt Elder’s bid was too high and again instructed Krumm to relet the contract for fresh bids. They also directed George to look farther afield for construction companies possibly willing to bid on the job.

“That was easy.”  –Jim George, Dallas County engineer

The third round of bids was held last month and again attracted only one bidder, this time Keosauqua-based Cole Construction with a bid of $565,000.

“We called 20 contractors,” George told the supervisors. “They’re full up. A lot of these guys are done for the summer. We’ve never had a situation quite like this. It’s tough. There’s a lot of work out there.”

George said the construction climate has been difficult during the last few years, and many companies have lost their crews and gone out of business. With a lot of 10-cent fuel tax dollars now entering the market, the surviving construction companies have more work than they can do, he said.

Field tile in Drainage District Six empties into the East Branch of Panther Creek, which lies about one-quarter mile west of County Road P58 and runs southerly and roughly parallel to County Road P58, starting just north of County Road F31. Panther Creek ultimately flows into the South Raccoon River in Adams Township.

The district contains 1,735 assessed acres, according to George, and its subsurface drainage tile was laid in 1911. A portion of the East Branch ditch was last dredged about 15 years ago, work also done by Cole Construction, but the ditch has since filled again with sediment eroded from the fields, particularly in the half-mile north of 210th Street (County Road F31) and between 210th and 230th streets, he said.

Dallas County Tile Crew Manager Nate Bandy shared technical details of the project with the supervisors.
Dallas County Tile Crew Manager Nate Bandy shared technical details of the project with the supervisors.

There are about 60 landowners in Drainage District Six. About half of them attended a district meeting in June 2014, along with Dallas County Supervisors Brad Golightly and Mark Hanson, Dallas County Engineer Jim George and Dallas County Road and Tile Crewman Nate Bandy.

Questions were raised at the meeting about the environmental impact of the drainage system.

“Have environmentalists studied this?” said Chet Gwynn of Des Moines, former minister at the First United Methodist Church in Perry. “We’re getting your chemicals in our water downstream.”

“If the ditches don’t drain,” said Bandy, “then the crops don’t grow, and the cattle go hungry and we go broke.”

“Have environmentalists studied this?”  –Chet Gwynn, retired minister

The ditch has not been thoroughly dredged since the early 1980s, George said, “which speaks very well of the management practices.” Rates of soil erosion are difficult to measure, and standards differ among soil scientists.

Estimates of the special tax assessments were provided to landowners at last June’s meeting, but they were based on the engineer’s estimate of the total cost. With the higher bid, landowners now face higher assessments, which are calculated according to a formula for how much benefit a landowner receives from the drainage system.

When Crystal Bock and Phil Magruder, landowners in Drainage District Six, learned the benefit formula has not changed since 1909, they said it was “time to reassess the rules.”

Longtime Dallas County resident Rubina Leonard said she was concerned about the special assessment, in her case of $3,600. The county offers 10-year payment plans.

The supervisors have yet to approve the additional debt needed to cover the construction project. They will consider a financing resolution at their May 19 meeting, and a public hearing will be required before final board approval.

The engineer’s construction specifications for the job are on file in the county auditor’s office and are open for public inspection.

 

 

1 COMMENT

  1. A perfect opportunity to work with the members of the district and the regulatory authority, Dallas County, to address the nutrient contamination issue. Wetlands could be developed at the point source discharge that will filter the nutrients. A bio-reactor could also be used, but with 1700 acres it would be an enormous bio-reactor. This is an opportunity.

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