Construction crews will begin tackling a storm drainage project on Boyd Street this summer or fall, just as the North Main Street Improvement Phase 2 project wraps up, De Soto City Manager Todd Melkus said.
The De Soto City Council voted unanimously on May 19 to hire Kimes Contracting of Hillsboro, at a cost of $74,815 for the storm drainage issue. If solid rock is encountered, Kimes will charge an additional cost of $300 for each cubic yard removed.
The company submitted the lowest of two bids for the project. Jokerst Inc. of Ste. Genevieve submitted a $159,675 bid, more than double the cost, and extra costs for rock removal ranging from $300 to $350 for each cubic yard removed.
“There is an issue with stormwater runoff on Boyd Street that begins approximately at Ninth Street that runs east down the hill before Sixth Street,” Melkus said. “This project will mitigate that issue and install inlets to divert the water into the appropriate stormwater system instead of running down the street and onto residents’ properties.”
Kimes requested a September start date in the bid.
“We are hoping he is able to start sooner than later, but no exact start date has been set,” Melkus said.
He said Kimes will begin locating and exposing buried utilities in certain areas in hopes of avoiding any utility issues when the project begins. He does not know at this time if the project will call for any detours.
North Main Street project
Melkus said the North Main Street Improvement Phase 2 project is coming along. The project began along North Main Street on April 21 and is projected to take 120 days.
The City Council agreed in October to pay Jokerst Paving & Contracting $678,017.20 to complete the project, which includes new sidewalks, streetlights and overlay on North Main Street from Valley Place to Williams Street.
“This is an East-West Gateway (Council of Governments) project and, therefore, is an 80/20 cost share where the city is only responsible for 20 percent of the project cost,” he said.
There have been periodic detours.
“There is a portion of the project that involves working around a manhole in the street, so there has been times where traffic has been reduced to one northbound lane while having southbound traffic detoured,” Melkus said. “The contractor is working to limit street closures as much as possible.”
Also during the May 19 meeting, the council voted to approve the annexation of a vacant lot at 547 Vineland School Road, which Mayor Rich McCane of R.W. McCane Holdings Inc. owns. McCane abstained from the vote.
He said most of the surrounding properties are already inside the city limits.
McCane said being able to use city water and sewer utilities will be a cost savings for him as he develops the 0.75-acre property, adding that the property is zoned R-3, which will allow for a one or two-family home to be built there.
“I have not committed to which type of structure will be built there,” he said. “The earliest we will be building on that site is 2026, and what we build will be dependent upon the housing market at that time.”