Today we received a new communication from Bellevue City Administrator Keith Spoelker regarding the progress of the current street repairs. In short, it appears that Sunesis will be bringing in an additional crew to assist with the construction project. The plus side? Repairs are again expected to be completed in October (as opposed to the revised November finish date that was recently announced). The downside is that the construction will close off larger sections of the street at a time. Here’s what Keith’s email had to say:

When we had our last Residents meeting last month at the Callahan Center, Sunesis indicated that the new completion date was November 16^th with weather and poor soils being the culprits for pushing the deadline date back from October. We held our monthly Covert Run Construction Management meeting last week. The majority of the meeting focused on construction progress and how to bring the deadline date back into October. As a result of our conversation, Sunesis has agreed to bring in a second crew to work on the project. The first crew would continue to lay pipe for the new sewers and connect the new water lines – essentially keep moving up Covert Run as the second crew would come in behind them and be responsible for paving and reconstruction of the finished area.

The primary advantage of this proposal is that it would compact the overall completion date for the project back into October (assuming bad weather and poor soils don’t intervene). The downside to the proposal is that there would be more than 300’ of Covert Run closed at any given time – as one crew digs, the other paves. I’ve checked with both the police and fire chiefs regarding the safety of proposal. Both have indicated that there is little downside to this proposal from a safety standpoint. It may extend the immediate parking hassle for the residents, but the project itself will be completed quicker. If you have any questions, please let me know.

We’ll keep you posted on additional developments to the street repairs project. In the meantime, please contact Keith Spoelker for more information at keith.spoelker@bellevueky.org or (859) 431-8866. Additionally, you can identify Sunesis construction foremen by their white hard hats. These individuals can answer any questions you may have about the timeline or safety of the project.

This post is to inform you that city council will hold a public meeting this coming Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Callahan Center (616 Poplar St.). Presumably, this meeting will be an opportunity for council to present a progress report for the Covert Run Pike street repairs project. Additionally, residents will be encouraged to ask questions about the project’s timeline, estimated completion date, interim parking, and anything else that comes to mind.

We hope to see everyone at the public meeting Wednesday!

Keith Spoelker indicated that the City would attempt to secure parking for residents displaced by the construction, but to date no designated alternative parking area has been announced. Citizens also voiced the need for a speed bump or other speed deterrent to be installed as part of the renovations; it remains unclear whether these issues will be addressed. City officials hope to have the project completed by fall or early winter of this year, at which point we will continue to closely monitor the condition of the street and, where necessary, work with city council to address ongoing concerns.

Please be sure to contact Keith Spoelker (keith.spoelker@bellevueky.org; 859-431-8866) and/or the City of Bellevue with any questions or concerns you have throughout the repairs process.

The following is a message from Keith Spoelker, Bellevue City Administrator, letting us know that the date for opening sealed work bids was pushed back to today:

“At the prebid meeting, the potential vendors asked a bunch a questions and asked for clarifications on a few items. To give them time to work on the clarifications and addendum, we decided to give them 2 more days to complete the bid (having the opening the day after a major holiday didn’t help either). The bid opening is now Thursday.”

I hope to be in touch with Keith later this afternoon to find out the number and nature of bids received. Let’s hope that the city decides to accept a bid and press forward on repairing Covert Run Pike.

Check back for updates!

Just a reminder that city officials will begin to accept bids tomorrow for the proposed street repairs. Sealed bids will be opened on September 8th, and (hopefully) an acceptable bid will be announced along with a timeline for the project thereafter. Let’s keep our fingers crossed, and check in regularly to make sure the city and SD1 are doing everything they can to keep the process moving!

Looking forward!

July was an extremely busy month for us. As many of you know, Bellevue City Council hosted a meeting on July 7th at the Callahan Center. Keith Spoelker, Bellevue’s City Administrator, presided over the meeting, as city engineers and representatives from Sanitation District No. 1 presented their proposed plans for fixing our street. Here are some key points from the meeting:

• A budget of $1,041,870 has been approved for the project. (Funds were collected from the City of Bellevue, the State of Kentucky, and the Sanitation District.)
• The allocated funds will pay for a new stormwater sewer that will run down the middle of Covert Run Pike, across Taylor, dumping out into the westernmost portion of Taylor Creek. Said funds will also be used to construct a new street and adjacent sidewalks.
• On 8/20/09, the city will begin to accept bids from area contractors. The bidding period will be open for 21 days. At the end of this time period (projected date: 9/8/09), Council will review the bids and (hopefully) select a team of workers to begin the project. In the unfortunate event that no satisfactory bid is received in that time period, a new bidding period will commence and last for an additional 21 days.
• Once the project details are solidified and work has begun, Council estimates the repairs to take anywhere from nine months to one year to complete. During this time, segments of the street/sidewalks will be unavailable for both foot traffic and parking. Residents are advised to be patient as repairs are completed, and council has tentatively offered assistance in finding alternative parking and accessibility solutions.
• Members of the Sanitation District are prepared to meet individually with residents whose lateral connections require special attention. They remain unsure as to whether outdated/damaged connections will result in fees for each homeowner, but they assured us that the issue will in no way impede the progress of the street repairs.
• A private company, Filterra, has been commissioned to transform our revamped sewage drains into usable green space containing live trees. Details of this experimental project are still being discussed by all parties involved.
• Council, while acknowledging that the creek is still a major souce of the flooding, is unprepared to field questions in that regard. Deepening/widening the creek or installing a retaining wall would reportedly cost upwards of $4 million, and while Council acknowledges that the creek still poses a viable threat, they have expressed their desire to make the street repairs their first priority. The creek is an issue upon which we, as citizens, must remain vigilant as we move forward.

Neighbors, this has been a long, uphill battle that is far from over. This unseasonably rainy summer continues to make it all too clear that we can no longer wait for the City to reach a conclusion. Despite the fact that Council has made unprecented progress in resolving the flooding, a thousand questions still remain. When will the repairs start? How will winter affect the construction progress? Will our property value increase once the job is done? Will our street still flood? I urge you to press your City Council for more details. Email Keith Spoelker at keith.spoelker@bellevueky.org, or call Public Works at (859) 261-0260. State and federal representatives have stated that since our street is owned by the City, they can’t intervene. It is up to us to make sure that the flooding on Covert Run Pike is at the forefront of the agendas of our paid and elected city officials.

Keep looking forward!