The city of Arnold will spend $2,640,497.35 for street projects this year.
City Council members voted unanimously March 7 to approve four contracts – one for concrete replacement; another for asphalt replacement and repairs; one for street sweeping services; and the last one for city-owned streets to be striped.
Arnold will pay $1,444,029.72 to M&H Concrete Contractors in St. Peters to replace concrete slabs on 17 streets. The company submitted the lowest of four bids for the project, Public Works Director Judy Wagner said.
The city will pay Spencer Contracting in Arnold $966,027.63 to replace or repair asphalt on 14 streets. Spencer was the lowest of two bidders, she said.
Arnold will pay $132,160 over the next three years to SCA of MO, a company based in Seven Hills, Ohio, to provide sweeping services for all city-owned streets. The city received only one bid for that work, Wagner said.
She said the city will pay $98,280 to Tramar Contracting in St. Charles to have all city-owned streets striped. Tramar was the lowest of two bidders.
Along with lining up the four street projects, Wagner said Arnold recently received three dump trucks it had ordered in 2022. The city paid a total of $432,798 for the trucks, which will replace three 2013 trucks.
“I had originally requested one in 2022, but given the long time it would take for delivery, (the council) allowed me to order three,” Wagner said. “I am glad they did because it is two years later, and we are just now getting them.”
Concrete work
Wagner said the city initially budgeted $1.2 million for the concrete replacement, but the cost went over budget because work on Long Glen and Ems Glen lanes in the Richardson Glen subdivision off Richardson Road were added to the list.
“A portion of the overage will be reimbursed to the city from the Richardson Glen Neighborhood Improvement District (NID),” she said.
Depending on the weather, Wagner said the concrete work will start in April, with crews working on Blossom, Santiago, San Juan and Tamarak drives.
She said concrete slabs will be replaced on those streets first, followed by asphalt work at the entrances to them.
Wagner said work on Long Glen, Ems Glen, Chaucer and Lampost lanes; Chelsea, Cambridge, Cromwell, Lampost and Trinity courts; Stardust and Pomme Meadows drives; and Trinity Circle is expected to start in June. She said work on those 12 streets is expected to be completed by mid-July.
“We need to repair our streets and keep them in good condition,” she said.
Asphalt work
Wagner said the city initially budgeted $700,000 for asphalt replacement and repairs, but that work also went over budget because other projects had been delayed, which left the city with more money to take on other projects.
She said the Little Muddy Creek stormwater project is one of the projects that was delayed. The Little Muddy Creek area is north of Hwy. 141 and west of I-55.
“We haven’t been able to get all of the easements to allow us to do all of that project this fiscal year,” Wagner said. “We will do the project next fiscal year (that runs from Sept. 1, 2024, to Aug. 31, 2025).”
Wagner said the asphalt work is expected to start by the end of the month and be completed by the end of July, depending on the weather.
“We want to keep our roads smooth,” she said.
Sweeping
Wagner said this is the first time in the last three years the city has been able to secure a multi-year agreement for street sweeping services. She said the city had been contracting with companies on an hourly basis since the COVID-19 pandemic limited the number of street sweepers available in the area.
Council documents show Arnold will pay $43,200 for a total of 320 hours of sweeping this year, $44,160 for a total of 320 hours of sweeping in 2025 and $44,800 for a total of 320 hours of sweeping in 2026.
Wagner said it takes about 40 hours to sweep the city-owned streets and typically the streets are swept once a month.
She said the next sweeping may start this month and, depending on the weather, the final sweeping service will be in November. “It provides our city with clean streets,” Wagner said. “The other advantage is it keeps our stormwater infrastructure clean.”
Striping
Wagner said depending on weather conditions and the temperature, all city-owned streets that have stripes should be restriped before June 1.
She said it will take about a week to paint stripes on all of the streets, but the striping may only be done when the streets are warm enough and no rain is in the forecast.
“The striping needs to be refreshed every other year to keep motorists safe,” Wagner said. “It helps delineate our lanes, and it prevents run-off-the-road crashes in inclement weather because the reflective paint helps people stay on the roads.”
Dump trucks
Wagner said the city received two 2024 HV607 SBA International dump trucks near the end of February, and the third dump truck arrived on March 1.
She said the city has seven dump trucks, including three 2013 models the city will continue using, as well as one 2021 model.
Wagner said the city uses the dump trucks to clear snow, collect brush and for other duties. She said the 2013 trucks have problems because of their age and corrosion on the engines caused by salt used to treat streets.
“It has been crazy trying to keep them running,” she said. “The cost to repair them is not cheap, and most of the repairs can’t be done in house.”
Wagner said she expects to ask to buy two more new dump trucks during the 2024-2025 fiscal year, and then she would like to start purchasing one new truck on a yearly basis.
“Ideally, we would want to replace a truck a year, so they would cycle out seven years,” she said.