Council
Communication

Office of the City Manager

 
 

Date

July 14, 2008

 

Agenda Item No.         60

Roll Call No.                08-

Communication No.    08-414

Submitted by:  William G. Stowe, Assistant City Manager/Public Works/Engineering

 

 

 

AGENDA HEADING:

 

Hearing on and Approval of the plans and specifications, form of contract and engineer’s estimate for the construction of a Metropolitan Salt Storage Facility; Hearing on and Approval of a 28E Agreement for the Lease-Purchase of a Metropolitan Salt Storage Facility on Metro Waste Authority (MWA) Property, and Approval of a 28E Agreement for Operation and Maintenance of the Metropolitan Salt Storage Facility by and between the Cities of Des Moines, West Des Moines, Urbandale, Johnston, Clive, Windsor Heights, Waukee, Grimes and Pleasant Hill.

 

 

SYNOPSIS:

 

To insure on site availability of adequate salt supplies for snow and ice control, staff recommends approval of the plans and specifications, form of contract and engineer’s estimate for the construction of a Metropolitan Salt Storage Facility, approval of a 28E Agreement for the Lease-Purchase of a Metropolitan Salt Storage Facility on MWA property between the Cities of Des Moines, West Des Moines, Urbandale, Johnston, Clive, Windsor Heights, Waukee, Grimes, Pleasant Hill and the MWA.  This agreement will ensure on-site availability of adequate salt supplies for snow and ice control.  This agreement is for a five-year period with Des Moines’ obligation for the cost of construction not to exceed $581,818.11 without written amendment.  This action further recommends approval of a 28E Agreement for operation and maintenance of the Metropolitan Salt Storage Facility by and between the same cities listed above.

 

 

FISCAL IMPACT:

 

Amount:  $671,926.69 ($134,385.33 annually for five years) to cover the construction and financing costs of the salt storage facility.  $295,400 (estimated) the first year for additional salt to fill the City of Des Moines’ storage facility.

 

Funding Source:  FY 2009 through FY 2013 Public Works Department Operating Budget; 2008-2009 Operating Budget, Fund SP360, Org PWK040400, Street Maintenance Fund, page 314.

 

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

 

The proposed 28E Agreement is a five-year lease-purchase agreement with the MWA for a Metropolitan Salt Storage Facility on property owned by the MWA located at 5180 Beisser Drive in Grimes, Iowa.  The lease-purchase of the metropolitan salt storage facility will enable the City of Des Moines to store a sufficient quantity of road salt for the operational needs of an entire winter snow and ice control season resulting in an increased service level for street conditions during the winter season.  The facility will also enable the storage of a sufficient quantity of salt to provide for the needs of the Airport and other City departments.

 

The facility will be utilized by the City of Des Moines Public Works Department and the cities of West Des Moines, Urbandale, Johnston, Clive, Windsor Heights, Waukee, Grimes and Pleasant Hill for the storage of road salt required for winter snow and ice control operations.  The MWA agrees to finance and construct the facility, and the participating cities agree to lease-purchase from the MWA, the salt storage facility by each city paying its proportionate share of the costs based on each city’s allocated salt storage capacity.  The cities are lease-purchasing the salt storage buildings and leasing the property.  There will be two buildings; one 10,000-ton storage facility exclusively for the City of Des Moines and a 12,000-ton facility for the remaining eight cities.  At the end of the five-year period, the City of Des Moines may move the 10,000-ton storage building to City property.

 

In the fall of 2007, the City of Des Moines Public Works Department staff began meeting with other area cities to discuss the possibility of developing a metropolitan area salt storage facility.  In the past, all have had difficulty obtaining the quantity of road salt needed during the winter season to effectively provide the level of service for snow and ice control that the residents expected.  The development of a metropolitan area salt storage facility would give these cities the ability to store their total snow season salt requirements plus a reserve to ensure material is available when needed to provide safe roadways for the residents.  It would also give the ability to save up to 15 percent in the cost of road salt due to larger purchases made prior to the snow season.

 

Discussions were held with both the Wastewater Reclamation Authority (WRA) and the MWA to ascertain if either of these regional entities would have available property to site the facility and also the capability of financing the construction of the site and storage buildings.  After numerous meetings and discussions, an agreement has been developed with the MWA and nine cities including the City of Des Moines for a lease-purchase of a Metropolitan Salt Storage Facility.  The facility will include approximately 10,000 square yards of pavement and two fabric covered “hoop-type” storage buildings.  The buildings have a useful life of 30 years with a fabric life of 15 years at which time a replacement fabric will be placed.  The nine cities involved with the facility and their storage allocations are:

 

Clive (5%)                                     1,000 tons

Des Moines (46%)                   10,000 tons

Grimes (3%)                                     750 tons

Johnston (2%)                                  500 tons

Pleasant Hill (2%)                             500 tons

Urbandale (8%)                             1,800 tons

Waukee (5%)                                1,100 tons

West Des Moines (26%)               5,750 tons

Windsor Heights (3%)                     600 tons

 

The MWA intends to enter into a contract with Prostruct Construction, Inc. in the amount of $1,161,986.84 for the construction of the facility, if the cities approve the 28E Lease-Purchase Agreement.  The cities are lease-purchasing the salt storage buildings and leasing the property.  The City of Des Moines will have sole ownership of the 10,000-ton facility at the end of the five-year term.  The other cities will have a prorata portion of the 12,000-ton facility at the end of the five-year term.

 

The total cost of construction is estimated to be $1,240,720.84, which includes facility construction costs of $1,161,986.84, architectural and engineering costs of $50,250.00, and permit fees and other costs of $28,484.00.  The maximum price for constructing the improvements, architectural and engineering costs, permit fees, etc. is $1,280,000 without written amendment.  The City of Des Moines’ share of the total cost of construction is not to exceed $581,818.11 plus the cost of financing of $90,108.58, for a total cost of $671,926.69 without written amendment to the Agreement.

 

The proposed 28E Agreement for operation and maintenance of the Metropolitan Salt Storage Facility with the aforementioned cities establishes the terms and conditions for the operation and maintenance of the Metropolitan Salt Storage Facility.  Maintenance responsibilities of the cities include mowing of the property, sweeping of paved areas, patching of paved areas, snow removal, and repair and maintenance of the buildings. 

 

During the first five years of the agreement, any maintenance that is necessary and requires outside forces shall be accomplished by the West Des Moines Public Works Superintendent and costs allocated to the cities according to each city’s proportionate share of the salt storage capacity in the Facility (Des Moines’ share is 46 percent).  Beginning on June 30, 2013, each city shall pay a maintenance fee of $1.00 per ton of each city’s storage capacity for each remaining year of the agreement.  The fee will be placed in a maintenance account to be used for the repair and maintenance of the facility.  The City of Des Moines’ portion will amount to $10,000 per year.  The City of Des Moines is also responsible for insuring their 10,000-ton capacity storage building.

 

 

PREVIOUS COUNCIL ACTION(S):

 

Date: June 23, 2008

 

Roll Call Number:  08-1101

 

Action:   Set date of hearing on items regarding the Metropolitan Salt Storage Facility, (7-14-08): (Council Communication No.  08-385)    Moved by Vlassis to adopt.  Motion Carried 7-0.

 

 

BOARD/COMMISSION ACTION(S): NONE

 

 

ANTICIPATED ACTIONS AND FUTURE COMMITMENTS: NONE

 

 

 

 

For more information on this and other agenda items, please call the City Clerk’s Office at 515-283-4209 or visit the Clerk’s Office on the second floor of City Hall, 400 Robert D. Ray Drive.  Council agendas are available to the public at the City Clerk’s Office on Thursday afternoon preceding Monday’s Council meeting. Citizens can also request to receive meeting notices and agendas by email by calling the Clerk’s Office or sending their request via email to cityclerk@dmgov.org.