By Emily Ford
eford@salisburypost.com
KANNAPOLIS ó The $3.2 million water improvement project that begins in January is bound to disrupt business in downtown Kannapolis.
But city leaders are working to make sure the disruptions are as few and short-lived as possible.
Starting with a public meeting Thursday night at the train station for all downtown merchants and residents, city staff will regularly communicate street closings and construction schedules for the project that will improve fire protection downtown.
The city plans an e-newsletter, postcards, public meetings, maps, parking alternatives and even Facebook updates about the eight-month project.
“We want feedback from downtown business owners,” city engineer Jeff Moody said at the Kannapolis City Council meeting Monday night.
The construction will affect most downtown streets, closing one block at a time starting Jan. 4, after the holiday shopping season ends.
The antiquated downtown water system was constructed in the 1930s, Moody said.
Actually, three separate systems include lines run by Cannon Mills and the city. The pipes are “all intermingled,” Moody said. “It’s just a big mess.”
The project will improve water quality and flow by eliminating existing galvanized pipe and replacing it with about 7,000 linear feet of 8-inch and 16-inch ductile iron pipe.
Funding for the project includes a $198,000 HUD grant and $477,900 EPA grant.
The city will use interim tax-increment financing bonds to pay the rest, City Manager Mike Legg said.
The interim bonds are designed to pay for crucial infrastructure and building projects left without funding when a larger bond package ó $168.4 million ó folded last year due to the poor economy.
The city plans to have interim bond proceeds worth $30 million in place by mid-October, Legg said.
City council is scheduled to award the contract for the water improvement project just a few weeks later on Nov. 23.
“If the funding is not in place, you will not award that bid,” Legg said. “It would go into a holding pattern.”
The city stands to lose one or both federal grants if the project doesn’t get under way this fall, Legg said.
If the city can’t get the bonds to market, it could finance the water project through a traditional bank loan, he said.
Construction will occur between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m., except for emergencies, Moody said. Sidewalks will remain open to pedestrians.
All construction will take place outdoors within existing public easements.
Each block could be closed for up to a month, Moody said.
Merchants and residents will meet with the contractor once the city awards the bid. The contractor will give more details about street closings.
“This will make it one good operating system, instead of three systems out there,” Moody said.
The project will clear the way for Duke University’s future building on the N.C. Research Campus. Currently, pumps located on the lot would prevent construction, Moody said.
The city on Monday also awarded a contract for $559,621 to Wayne Brothers Inc. to complete the long-awaited Dakota Street culvert replacement project, which should significantly decrease flooding in the area.
The low bid came in $300,000 under an engineer’s estimate, Moody said.
Council scheduled a strategic planning retreat for Nov. 19 and 20 at the Research Campus. The city had considered holding the event at campus founder David Murdock’s Rowan County farm, but the California billionaire will be using his home during the retreat.