Bids are due this Friday, March 21st for the City’s 2025 street & utility project package. In addition to our local purchasing policy, State law requires municipalities to competitively bid public construction projects with an estimated cost of $25,000 or more. General contractors download the engineered plans and details for the project, obtain prices from various sub-contractors, and submit a bid to the City prior to the deadline with their proposed cost to complete the work. Bids are reviewed for completeness, reviewed at a committee level, and ultimately brought to the City Council for final action. This year’s scope of work includes the following projects:
Reconstruction of Bilmar Avenue
Bilmar Avenue is the primary reconstruction project for 2025. The existing infrastructure was installed in the 1970s and is showing its age. Plans call for new subgrade and aggregate base, pavement, curb and gutter, and sidewalks. Underground utilities - including clay tile sewer and cast iron water main - will be replaced with modern materials. The City of New Richmond was awarded a $650,000 grant from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to help reduce the amount of local funding required to complete this project.
Oakes Trail
Adjacent to Bilmar Avenue are the Oakes Ruins, considered to be the oldest historical structure in New Richmond. Constructed around 1856, the horse barn foundation was restored this past year thanks to the efforts of the New Richmond Heritage Center and several project partners. The Oakes Ruins will become a trailhead for a new off-street trail that will run east along the Paperjack Creek and connect to the existing Blue Jay Trail, near the former Powers farm. The trail project is supported in through a matching $163,000 grant via the Knowles Nelson Stewardship Program, which is administered by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Once completed, the Oakes Trail will be one of the more scenic pathways and enhance connectivity.
Alley Reconstruction
There are several public alleys in the older neighborhoods in New Richmond. Some alleys are gravel, while others have an (aging) asphalt surface. Very few alleys have been reconstructed in the past 30 years, and while most do not see as much vehicle traffic as our streets, they still require maintenance and cannot be neglected indefinitely. The 2025 street and utility project package includes the reconstruction of an alley located between S Dakota Avenue and S Minnesota Avenue, which runs north-south from W 2nd Street to W 3rd Street. There are special assessments involved with this particular project.
Lead Service Line Replacement
New Richmond Utilities is committed to replacing any known or suspected lead services within the municipal water system. Like many municipalities, New Richmond has been replacing lead service lines incrementally over the past decade. The 2014 water crisis in Flint, Michigan drew national attention to the health risks associated with lead exposure, and also resulted in both new regulations and additional financial resources from the federal and state levels of government. Rules set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2024 require municipalities to replace lead and galvanized lines within the next decade, which will further expedite this process. Both the municipality and the private property owner bear a cost in replacing lead service lines.
Bids will be brought to the City Council on April 14th. Once a general contractor is determined and contracts are executed, a public informational meeting will be scheduled (with a representative from the contractor in attendance) so that property owners can learn more about the anticipated construction schedule, view the construction plans in greater detail, and ask questions (e.g. mail delivery, driveway access, parking, coordinating private driveway improvements in conjunction with the project, etc.)
Thanks for reading. Feel free to share with others who might be interested or who reside near these particular projects.