The Natchitoches City Council introduced an ordinance at its Monday night meeting, Nov. 8, to award the bid for Liquid Chlorine for the Water Treatment Plant (Bid No. 0621) to DPC Enterprises of Reserve, La. in the amount of $1,376 per ton.
Liquid Chlorine is used to sterilize the water. The expiring amount is $796 per ton. This is a net increase of $580 per ton. The City uses about 75 tons per year, which is about a $43,000 increase on chlorine this year.
Another ordinance up for introduction was to award the Bid for Caustic Soda for the Water Treatment Plant (Bid No. 0642) to Univar Solutions USA, Inc. of Kent, WA in the amount of .23 cents per pound. According to Director of Purchasing Edd Lee, this is a significant increase in pricing. Caustic soda is purchased every 6 months and the price was .102 cents per pound. The City uses over half a million pounds over a 6 month period.
The question is if the price increases will end up affecting consumer water bills. According to City officials who spoke at the meeting, it’s definitely possible as it will impact the net income to the Utility Department.
The Utility Department supports other departments within the City and if price increases hold steady it will impact the amount of transfer they can send to other departments. The City hopes the price increases are temporary.
In other business the Council awarded the bid for renovation of the Texas and Pacific Railroad Depot (Bid No. 0627) to DSW Construction LLC of Natchitoches.
The City has talked about this facility for at least three decades and is happy to finally be seeing some movement on the project. On Sept. 16 the only bid received was in the amount of $1,365,775. The bid contained three deductive alternates totaling $170,000 reducing the overall bid to $1,195,755.
The alternates are: Deduct fire water line, fire sprinkler riser, fire sprinkler system and fire alarm system; deduct exterior acoustic blankets and fence wrap at the chain link fence by the railroad tracks; and deduct the train platform awning on the West elevation (except over the ticket booth)
DSW and Taylor/Kempkes Architects engages in a value engineering phase to determine items that could be modified or deleted to reduce overall costs (SEE DOCUMENT BELOW).
The cost reductions listed in the documents below total $326,882, reducing the contract to $868,893. With tax credits of $191,000 the total estimated project cost is $671,893.
Cane River National Heritage Area is putting up $47,000 toward architectural fees on the depot project. The final total is $1.5 million to put the whole package together with a-20 year lease with the National Park Service at $130,000 annually. The next step is structural refinancing. The City anticipates an interest rate between 2.5-3.5% with between $95,000 – $105,000 of the total lease amount reducing the entire debt over the 20-year term.
The renovation of the depot will allow the landmark district to grow toward the depot. The City is hoping to see changes on third, fourth and fifth street moving back toward sixth street. Design drawings of the interior of the space should be available in early spring.
PROCLAMATIONS:
Declare November 27, 2021 As Small Business Saturday In The City Of Natchitoches.
ORDINANCES – INTRODUCTION:
Amend Chapter 20 Of The Code Of Ordinances Of The City Of Natchitoches Relative To Establishing The Natchitoches Fairness, Equality, And Inclusion Program, And To Otherwise Provide With Respect Thereto.
Furnish The Marshal Of The City Of Natchitoches, State Of Louisiana, With Suitable Office Facilities And Otherwise Providing With Respect Thereto.
RESOLUTIONS:
Frye Magee, LLC Contract Amendment No. 1 For The City’s Louisiana Community Development Block Grant Coronavirus (“LCDBG-CV”) HVAC Improvements. Considering the scope of the project has doubled the firm requested an additional $10,500 based on the increase in the LCDBG-CV Project budget from $500,000 to $1 million. The total lump sum fee for the contract would increase to $45,500.
FY 2020 LCDBG-CV Management Resolution.
FY 2020 LCDBG-CV Grievance Procedure.
FY 2020 LCDBG-CV Policy Statement For Communicating Information To Person With Sensory Impairments.
FY 2020 LCDBG-CV Language Access Plan.
Award Phase 1 Environment Site Assessment Contract For LCDBG HVAC Program.
Execute An Agreement With The Louisiana Department Of Transportation And Development (LADOTD) For Improvements At The Natchitoches Regional Airport For Obstruction Of Removal Runway 7 Approach – Phase II (Construction). This is a 100 percent grant to remove some trees off the end of runway 7.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
The next scheduled City Council meeting will be Monday, November 22, 2021.
The City of Natchitoches offices will be closed Thursday, November 25th and Friday, November 26, 2021 for the Thanksgiving Holidays.
