City Council Meeting Date: February 17, 2026
To: Mayor and Members of Council
City Administrator
From: David Bennett, Public Works Director/City Engineer
Sean Simonson, Engineering Manager
Title
Consider Accepting Bids and Awarding Contract - Spring Creek Road Reconstruction & Mill Towns State Trail Project (STRT2026-A84).
Body
Action Requested:
Staff recommends approval of the attached Resolution (Attachment 1) accepting bids and awarding the contract for the Spring Creek Road Reconstruction & Mill Towns State Trail Project (STRT2026-A84).
Summary Report:
Four Way Stop/Intersection Information
As directed by City Council per the last “whereas clause” of Resolution 2026-012 (Attachment 2), Staff was directed to work with the County Engineer “to bring to the County Board to explore further safety considerations at the intersection of Spring Creek Road and Woodley Street (CSAH 28) to include a 4-way stop, or Red Flashing HAWK Signal System, and implement speed control measures for vehicles entering the City from the east on CSAH 28.”
This item is scheduled on the Rice County Transportation & Ditch Committee (Commissioners Purfeest and Peters) on February 24th, 2026, and then will go to the County Board. Staff is still working to verify when the agenda item would be scheduled before the full Board of Commissioners. Members of the City Council are welcome to attend the meetings if they wish. City Staff will report back to City Council on the Rice County’s recommendations from this meeting and provide information on the scheduled full Board of Commissioner meeting when we receive that detailed information.
Overall Project Summary
The City Council is being asked to award the contract for the Spring Creek Road Reconstruction & Mill Towns State Trail Project (STRT2026-A84). The Plans and Specifications were completed by both the City of Northfield Engineering Department and Bolton and Menk, Inc. At the January 6, 2026 City Council Meeting, the Council authorized the advertisement for bids via Resolution 2026-012. The ad for bid was published in the Northfield News, on the MnDOT eAdvert site, and the City of Northfield website.
The project scope includes work on the following improvements (Attachment 3):
• Spring Creek Road from Woodley Street to Huron Court (Reconstruction)
• Mill Towns State Trail
The City received nine (9) competitive bids (Attachment 3), which were publicly opened and tabulated on February 5, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. The bids ranged from $1,567,907.80 to $2,240,375.18 with the lowest responsible bidder being ICON, LLC with a total bid amount of $1,567,907.80. This is $371,514 less (-19%) than the engineer’s estimate of $1,939,422.00. See details in the Financial Impact section of this memo for specific savings by funding area (water utility, tax levy, etc.). This project is identified in the 2026-2030 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), and funding for the project is a combination of enterprise funds, franchise fees, Municipal State Aid (MSA), DNR Grant for MTST, and capital reserve as outlined in the funding tables below.
City Plans & Policies Relevance:
NA
Alternative Options:
City Council may decide not to award this project; however, these roads will continue to deteriorate due to the condition of the current pavement surface, and future maintenance requirements will increase significantly.
Staff does not recommend any alternative actions outside of considering award of contract.
Financial Impacts:
The funding tables at the time of the contract award are shown below. In addition, funding for the 1% for the arts is included with the project. The award resolution includes transferring the 1% for the arts to the Arts and Culture Fund at this time.
Tentative Timelines:
Project Process (Attachment 5).