Agenda - Public Works Committee - 12/16/2025

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• Meet property owner expectations o Staff often hears from property owners that the project caused the damage and the city should repair it o Other cities in the area do pay for repairs as part of the project • Improve project outcomes o Contractors will be incentivized to minimize damage to irrigation systems o Ensures systems will be repaired in a timely manner • Help promote boulevard restoration by watering newly seeded areas • Avoid re -seeding due to after -the -fact irrigation repairs • Promotes lawn care o Functional irrigation systems promote higher quality turf yards o Increases curb appeal • Avoids damaged pipes being left exposed by residents not willing to repair systems themselves Notification: Notification is not required for this case. Time Frame/Observations/Alternatives: Staff estimates up to 15 minutes will be needed to present this case and respond to questions. Funding Source: Funding for irrigation repairs would come from Pavement Management Fund or Municipal State Aid Funds where applicable. Based on feedback from local area cities, several different methods are used to pay for irrigation repairs: • Lump Sum o Contractor quotes one price, number of repairs required does not impact the price • Irrigation or Landscape Allowance o City sets an allowance in the bid; Contractor submits time and material invoices for any repairs • Each per property or each per irrigation head o All work to remove / salvage / plug / install new heads by occurrence o One city does not repair irrigation heads which are not marked The last project the city repaired irrigation was the 2016 Andrie Street Reconstruction. The City paid by each property; the lowest bid was $600 each. With an assumed 35% inflation, in today's dollars that would cost approximately $800 each. For the 60 total properties with irrigation on that project, the estimated costs would be $48,000 in today's dollars. Irrigation repairs by each irrigation head are difficult to estimate, since the systems cannot be easily viewed, and as-builts of the lines are not readily available. A cost for each (irrigation head) was estimated at $125 by a neighboring city. Recommendation: Staff recommends including irrigation repairs by lump sum on public improvement projects moving forward. By nature of a lump sum, the contractor is incentivized to minimize the amount of irrigation damage during the project. This will in -turn provide better project outcomes in speeding up restoration, promote continued grass maintenance following construction, avoiding additional touch-up work, and meet the expectations of property owners. Based on recent years the staff time for inspecting irrigation repairs is anticipated to be offset by the time required to discuss damage with both residents and the contractor. Staff is seeking a consensus direction from the Public Works Committee on this matter. Outcome/Action: Dependent upon Public Works Committee direction.