05/31/2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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County’s Public Works Director, Jim Davis, reported that County staff has also been rdth negotiating with a consultant for survey and design services west of 43 Avenue to 66 Avenue and that was a little different from the City’s project. There are two large developments: (1) th Whitfield, west of 58 Avenue that has probably 60-70% of the frontage for that one mile. They have already secured right-of-way along Whitfield and a lot of the developers have done survey work. They are trying to take advantage of work that has already been done by not duplicating survey work to save money on design. (2) A large project in the City of Vero Beach “Heritage rdth Reserve” that has half of the frontage on one mile between 43 Avenue and 58 Avenue. They have been talking to the developer’s representative and they have done a lot of survey work and do not want to duplicate their efforts. Because consultants’ fees are growing rapidly due to the cost increases for construction, the County is trying to save money by not duplicating. Chairman Neuberger queried if they had a date when this would start. Director Davis responded that as far as construction was concerned, the County has some sensitive right-of-way acquisition. There were 7 or 8 homes that would be impacted severely and the right-of-way acquisition usually is the driving force in the critical path for the timing. They rd are probably 3 or 4 years out of the construction and west of 43 Avenue is where they are impacting residential homes. There will be 4 lanes divided. There are some issues on whether to pipe the canal on the south side or acquire more right-of-way on the north side; or how to handle the stormwater, etcetera. They are looking at using the new development “Heritage Reserve” to treat the stormwater from the road, so they do not have to buy independent stormwater ponds. Mr. Falls thanked Director Davis and staff, Terry Ralph, for their help when they were working with their negotiations. COVB got good information from County departments to help them put together some consultant proposal numbers that were consistent with what the County has been paying in cost per mile. Mr. Falls said they would have, if Council accepted the proposal on Tuesday night, the design and permitting phase (about an 18 month process) with final drawings are expected to be completed in January of 2008. Then as soon as they could get construction bids received and contracts awarded, the project would start right after that. May 31, 2006 14