Cape residents continue to question costs of now-paused North 3 UEP project
The Cape Coral City Council got an update on the North 3 Utility Expansion Project and Alternative 5 Wednesday.
Although council paused the project at last week’s workshop pending a redesign of the controversial Alternative 5 roadway work, numerous residents turned out again to speak against the costs during citizen’s input.
Councilmember Laurie Lehmann questioned the additional outlay council is now told would come as a result of the pause.
The city does not need to spend $3 million on redesigning a road for the UEP area, Lehmann contended, adding that by nixing the Alternative 5 roadway improvement, there should be a reduction in the change order of the contract, not an increase.
“Citizens like the roads they have now. Why change it?” Lehmann asked.
The protests from residents came not from the roadway upgrades for a portion of the project but from the associated pass-along costs that would have added another $5,765-$6,000 to the $35,000-plus assessment to bring in water, sewer and irrigation lines. The city originally said the upgrades — 10-foot multi-use paved pathways on both sides of the street, driveway extensions, stormwater upgrades and more — would not be paid for with assessments on benefiting properties but would come from general transportation funds.
City Manager Michael IIczyszyn said they are going back to the typical roadway design for the latest UEP area.
“In order to get a bid from a contractor, you have to have specific design criteria and design on what they are building to hold them accountable to what they gave a bid price on,” he said.
The city must rebuild to current standards, he said, not to any standards in place when the roads were built in the 1970s.
“In every UEP we have a design for every single road under today’s engineering standards and design principles,” IIczyszyn said.
Roads in every other UEP area have been rebuilt with a full road base, proper compaction, asphalt lifts and proper land widths, he said.
Lehmann asked again why a total redesign, as it will cost $3 million.
“It doesn’t seem to be rocket science to put the road back,” she said, adding that she understands that the roads will be ripped up and new asphalt will be laid down.
IIczyszyn reiterated the information — a design set of plans needs to be prepared to have a contractor build on the construction work to prepare with a bid to perform the work.
“We have not done that for a typical cross section for UEP. We only designed for Alternative 5, which has roadways in the center,” he said. “It has to be redesigned. There is no way possible to just dig it up and put the road back.”
A repeal of the original resolution will come before the council on Monday, Nov. 2.
To reach MEGHAN BRADBURY, please email mbradbury@breezenewspapers.com