City officials heard updates Wednesday on several projects the city is juggling and learned that some of the projects are expected to wrap soon.
During an El Dorado City Council/Water and Public Works Board meeting, Mayor Paul Choate provided status reports on work to build a new city dog pound and a major drainage improvement/repair project on 10th Street between West and Washington avenues.
Both projects are being funded by the El Dorado Works tax initiative, a one-cent city sale tax that is earmarked for economic development, municipal infrastructure and quality-of-life projects.
Choate -- filling in for Robert Edmonds, director of public works, who was unable to attend the meeting -- reported that the new city dog pound that is under construction at the intersection of U.S. 82/South West Avenue/Southfield Road is "essentially and substantially complete."
The city is leasing the two-acre site from LANXESS for a nominal fee of $10 per year for 99 years.
In 2023, the city council accepted the low bid of $594,341 from Diversified Construction and Design to build the new pound, which is replacing the dilapidated facility next to the City Shop on Martin Luther King.
The new pound comes with an enclosed cinder block building and a metal canopy; an HVAC system; a trough system that will allow for easy and sanitary disposal of waste; LED lighting; and approximately 40 dog pens, six more than the number of pens in the existing pound.
Choate said Wednesday that crews are contending with a wash-out plumbing issue this week and will follow up with a few remaining punch-list items.
The mayor said he visited the site last week.
"Those animals that are going to be confined out there are going to be much. much better taken care of than they have been in the past," Choate said.
He said the move-in date could fall within the next week to 10 days.
Council Member David Hurst asked if the old pound will be razed and Choate said the facility will be cleaned out, likely treated for "residual fleas" and used for equipment storage.
Moving on to the 10th Street project, for which Diversified is also the contractor, Choate reported that engineer A.L. Franks Engineering has signed off on the contractor's notice of completion.
Choate said he received the notice Wednesday.
He referred to storms that swept through the area nearly two weeks ago and left nearly 10 inches of rain, saying that the new pour-in place box culvert withstood the storms.
"It was draining well -- had a little water in the box but it was moving on out," Choate said, noting that he, Edmonds and A.L. Franks engineer Cody Stringer visited the area on the day the storm to see how the new drainage box was holding up.
Hurst said he also took a look at the site the same day.
"For the first time in some time, it's working like it should," Choate added later.
He said some re-seeding and finishing work remain on the project, particularly on the hillside on the north side of 10th Street.
Ideal ground temperatures for successful germination are 65 to 70 degrees, the mayor said.
Council Member Frank Hash suggested that the area be sodded instead of re-seeded, noting the grading of the ground.
Council Member Judy Ward asked about the total cost of the project, telling Choate that several residents have inquired about the matter.
The latest iteration of the project began late last summer but, overall, work has been ongoing for nearly four years and has faced several challenges along with way.
Work on the project initially began in 2020 with a different contractor.
However, after issues arose with delays in the work and auditing problems, including overpayments and duplicate payments from the city to contractor, the city council agreed to award a new contract to the second highest bidder who had submitted a proposal during the original bid period.
The new contract went to Diversified, who completed the job in November of 2021 for $69,493, bringing the total cost of the project to $414,371, which included the initial work that had been done in 2020 and 2021.
Later, Edmonds said additional work was needed to correct issues that had arisen from initial repairs.
Last May, the El Dorado Works Board, who administers the El Dorado Works tax, and El Dorado City Council approved a funding request from the Department of Public Works, of more than $1.2 million for the job, which included the box culvert.
Components of the job called for the removal of pipes that had initially been installed and reportedly caused the ground to give way between Williams Court Apartments, 1600 N. Washington Ave., and Banderas Steakhouse, 200 W. 10th St.
The erosion of the ground created a large chasm that swallowed two outdoor cooling/heating units at Williams Court.
The city replaced the units and erected temporary barriers to prevent any further threats to the apartment complex as work progressed on installing the box culvert.
Complaints also came from Banderas.
Heavy machinery and equipment that were stored in the east section of the restaurant's parking lot during the initial phases of the work in 2020 and 2021 limited parking space for customers and damaged the lot in that area.
On Wednesday, Council Member Willie McGhee said he hoped the city could recoup the money that had been paid out to the original contractor for the job, ERC General Contractors.
Choate said Friday, Eldredge & Clark, a Little Rock law firm, has been working on the matter, which was cited in the city's 2021 legislative audit.
The mayor sought assistance from the Friday firm at the behest of the city council.
The audit report noted that the city paid $344,878 to ERC without any supporting documents, including change orders, to justify payment overages.
On Wednesday, Choate said the Friday firm has not made any headway in efforts to recoup costs from ERC.
He also said the business does not appear to still be in operation.
Hash asked if ERC was bonded and Choate said the contract for the drainage job and bonding documents went missing before he took office on Jan. 1, 2022.
Hash contended that the city could track down the bonding company.