Milton council tables Magnolia Street project
Milton Town Council temporarily tabled a proposed drainage and bulkhead project at the municipal parking lot on Magnolia Street after cost estimates for the bulkhead work were higher than anticipated.
Ted Thomson, Geotechnical Division manager for town engineers Pennoni Associates, told council Nov. 4 that the bulkhead requires significant repairs, the main question is how much does the town want to take up at this time?
Thomson said partially replacing the bulkhead and drain pipe would cost $567,000. A complete replacement of the bulkhead - including rebuilding the walkway along the Broadkill River - was estimated at $3.5 million.
The town had previously received $435,000 in state funding for the project - which would include repairs to the bulkhead and a rain garden to mitigate flooding in the parking lot - but Town Manager Kristy Rogers said in light of the higher estimates, she will look for additional funding. She suggested tabling the matter until council’s December meeting, and council unanimously approved.
Thomson said Pennoni first assessed the bulkhead last year, and the damage was extensive enough to necessitate further study. He said since April, Pennoni has been testing various areas of the bulkhead for damage.
Thomson said about one-third of the bulkhead is in very poor shape, with corrosion on the sheet pile walls, damage to the sidewalk on top of the wall and corrosion to the 30-inch discharge pipe.
He proposed three options for the town: completely replacing the bulkhead, partial replacement, or repairing the pipe and worrying about the bulkhead later. Thomson said the project could be staged to not have to rebuild the sidewalk now and worry about that at a later date in order to complete a concurrent project at the Magnolia Street parking lot. That project calls for building a rain garden and reconfiguring the lot in order to alleviate nuisance flooding at the parking lot.
Councilman Sam Garde asked Rogers how the new cost estimates would affect the town’s state grant funds, which had been based on lower costs. Rogers said because the scope of the project has changed, she needed more time to come up with funding. She said partial replacement is $250,000 more than originally estimated.
Councilman Kevin Kelly asked how long a partial bulkhead would last. Thomson said about 10 to 15 years. He said the biggest issue is replacing the metal pipe, which would be part of the partial replacement.
