City Commissioners approved a $122,897 agreement amendment with Great West Engineering for the second phase of a downtown drainage improvement project.

The amendment adds public outreach and construction administration services for the second phase of the Central Avenue/3rd Street drainage improvement project that is expected to go to bid in March with construction this summer.

The city retained Great West Engineering in 2020 for a basin study.

City approves TIF funds for downtown storm water project [2023]

The 9th Avenue South and Central Avenue/4th Street drainage basin study was completed in December 2020, identifying system deficiencies and recommended improvements to the storm drain network to reduce duration and amount of future flooding.

The first phase of Central Avenue/3rd Street drainage improvements project was constructed in 2023 with final payment approved by commissioners in August 2024.

The second phase, currently being designed by Great West, includes storm drain improvements along 3rd Street South between 2nd Alley South and Central Avenue to include storm drain, water main and street improvements along 1st Avenue South between 3rd Street South and 5th Street South.

City Commission to consider ARPA fund agreement for downtown drainage project [2023]

The city contracted Great West for design and bidding services in April 2023 for the second phase of the project, according to the city. Commissioners approved the first amendment  to provide design services for two blocks of water main replacement and street reconstruction, according to city staff, and the second amendment adds public outreach and construction administration.

Commissioners approved the original contract with Great West in April 2023 for $113,239.

The first amendment was approved in August 2024 for $24,735.

The second amendment, approved by commissioners during their Feb. 4 meeting, for $122,897 brings the contract total to $260,871.

The second contract amendment “is necessary due to the limited staff of the engineering division,” according to the staff report.

Commission to consider amendment to downtown plan for drainage projects [2022]

Under the contract amendment, Great West will provide public outreach and construction administration to include:

• up to eight meetings with businesses/stakeholders
• bi-weekly public construction status meetings
• conduct preconstruction conference
• weekly on-site construction coordination meetings with contractor
• review shop drawings/submittals
• intermittent site observation to monitor and document construction progress
• respond to contractor questions and provide interpretation of contract documents
• review contractor pay requests
• participate in substantial completion inspection and final inspection, prepare punch list
• prepare as-builts

During their Feb. 4 meeting, Commissioner Joe McKenney asked if the downtown merchants were aware of the project.

Public Works Director Christopher Gaub said he hadn’t directly spoken with downtown business owners.

City considering contract change to avoid disrupting downtown business [2023]

Melissa Kinzler, city finance director, said that the project had gone before the Downtown Development Partnership previously and approved it so that yes, they were aware of the project that had been in the works for several years.

The downtown drainage improvement project is aimed at addressing problematic flooding that has occurred during high intensity rainfall events in recent years.

The most significant flooding event was in August 2016, when about one to three inches of rain fell in about an hour.

City receives $8.4 million in state ARPA funds [2023]

The city public works department used the study to develop the central drainage project which includes the area:

• along 3rd Street South and extends from 4th Avenue South to 2nd Avenue South;
• along 3rd Avenue South from 3rd Street South to 4th Street South; and
• along 2nd Avenue South from 3rd Street South to 5th Street South.

The project includes adding storm drain inlets, increasing underground pipe capacity, and better conveying storm water to the Missouri River.

The estimated budget for the project was $8.5 million in multiple staff documents from 2023.

In May 2023, commissioners approved a state grant agreement for the project.

City considering $1.48 million drainage improvement contract [2022]

The city was allocated $3,729,200 in grant funds from the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation through the competitive grant and minimum allocation grant programs of the American Rescue Plan Act through the state.

The city is using those funds toward the downtown drainage improvement project.

Public Works staff identified ARPA dollars as a potential funding source for the project.

The state was allocated about $2 billion in ARPA funds and the Montana Legislature put $582 million to local infrastructure programs including water and sewer projects, according to the staff report, of which $249 million was allocated to a competitive grant program for water and sewer infrastructure improvements.

There were two rounds of competition and the city’s downtown drainage project was one of four applications submitted for the second round of applications, according to the city.

The downtown drainage project was ranked 20th of 174 applications and was awarded $1,864,600 through the competitive grant program, which requires a dollar for dollar match, according to the city.

The state also established a $150 million minimum allocation grant program that allocated pre-set calculated balances of ARPA funds to municipalities and the city was allocated $8,505,069.

City staff chose to use a portion of those funds to match the competitive grant, which commissioners approved in September 2022.

The city is planning to use a total of $3,729,200 in ARPA funds for the project as well as $2.5 million in downtown tax increment financing funds.

The city will fund $6,229,200 million of the estimated $8.5 million total costs before using utility fee revenues from city residents, staff said in 2023.

The project was selected and prioritized in the city public works’ capital improvement program, and was included in the 2023 budget of the storm drain utility enterprise fund.