Phase 2 of stormwater replacement project in SW Jamestown almost complete

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.

The Details

JAMESTOWN — The second phase of the 96-inch stormwater replacement project in southwest Jamestown is almost complete.

Tyler Michel, public works director, said work was being done on the last service line on Tuesday, Nov. 10, to complete the second segment of the second phase for the project. He said the water in the Baymont by Wyndham parking lot drains into that pipe.

A contractor was expected to arrive in Jamestown to pave 24th Street Southwest, Michel said.

“They are looking at paving it next week, the way it sounds,” he said.

The company that we're going through says it's a 50-year warranty, but they're seeing signs that it could last 200 years.

Tyler Michel, public works director, city of Jamestown, referring to the fiberglass-reinforced pipe that was installed for the 96-inch stormwater replacement project.

The first phase of the 96-inch stormwater replacement project included repairing a 96-inch stormwater pipe near Applebee’s in 2023. Stormwater runoff and flooding resulted in the failure of the pipe located south of 25th Street Southwest and east of 8th Avenue Southwest. The sinkhole at the site was estimated to be 12 to 14 feet deep.

“The first section was the emergency so … it just kind of jumpstarted everything,” Michel said.

He said the stormwater pipes needed to be replaced but the city couldn’t get the funding for the project.

“This definitely helped us secure the funding to go through it to get it done,” he said, referring to the failure of the pipe located south of 25th Street Southwest and east of 8th Avenue Southwest.

Kathy Steiner / The Jamestown Sun file photo

The first segment of phase two included replacing the storm sewer with 96-inch pipe from 25th Street Southwest to U.S. Highway 281 in 2024.

The second segment of phase two for the project included replacing the stormwater pipes with 96-inch pipe on the east side of U.S. Highway 281 to the Interstate 94 corridor.

Michel said the North Dakota Department of Transportation will be responsible for the stormwater replacement on the north side of Interstate 94. He said that section is a little over 200 feet.

“It was our understanding that it was the city's responsibility, but after we looked into it a little bit more, the DOT said that it would be their responsibility,” he said.

Michel said he was unsure of the NDDOT’s timeline for working on its section of the stormwater replacement project. He said the pipe on the north side of I-94 didn’t appear to be in bad shape.

John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun

“There's no traffic on top of it or anything either, so that helps a lot,” he said.

The estimated total project cost is more than $9 million. The cost was more than $3.3 million for the second segment of phase two.

“It's at little or no cost to the city of Jamestown,” Michel said. “We used state funding, grant funding to pay for 100% of it. So there's no cost as far as actual project costs to the city or its residents.”

The first phase included using a North Dakota Department of Water Resources grant of more than $1.5 million and about $1.25 million in Prairie Dog funds.

The estimated cost of the entire second phase is more than $6.2 million. That includes about $2 million from a North Dakota Department of Water Resources grant, more than $2.3 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development and over $1.8 million from Prairie Dog funds.

“This is very important because the city would have had to find the resources to pay for these repairs from property tax, utility fees, sales tax, special assessments,” Mayor Katie Hemmer said, referring to the project having little to no cost to the city of Jamestown. “We were able to not impact any of those revenue streams when they were able to utilize multiple funding sources to be able to complete this project without local participation.”

She said it is unique that the largest sources of funding came from USDA Rural Development and the state Department of Water Resources because most of the stormwater runoff comes from property outside city limits.

Hemmer said the stormwater replacement project is important for stormwater drainage in southwest Jamestown.

“All the land that surrounds the city there in that area has to drain through there,” she said. “Ultimately, the water is trying to get to the river, and the conveyance method for it to get over to the interstates, under the interstates, and to the river connection on the other side from this 96-inch storm sewer.”

Michel said 90% of the water that flows through the stormwater pipes in the area of the project comes from south and west of Jamestown.

“It just flows through the city because of the way the natural drainage used to be,” he said.

Michel said the fiberglass-reinforced pipe that was installed has a 50-year warranty.

“The company that we're going through says it's a 50-year warranty, but they're seeing signs that it could last 200 years,” he said.

Michel said corrugated steel pipes were replaced.

“It was rotted at the bottom, so then the pipe kind of collapsed and overlapped and rusted out,” he said.

Michel said the project included replacing the storm sewer line that ran diagonally in a lot between My Place Hotel and MAC’s Hardware, making that lot unbuildable.

“What we did in the design is … we extended it underneath 24th Street a little bit further east, and then ran it along the lot line between MAC’s and that vacant lot so that it makes that lot where someone can develop it,” he said.

He also said there was about an $84,000 change order to remove old concrete with rebar and an old sign base that were buried underground.

“It looked like somebody might have used the area where we replaced the pipe as a dumping ground for that and then covered it up,” he said.

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Masaki Ova joined The Jamestown Sun in August 2021 as a reporter. He grew up on a farm near Pingree, N.D. He majored in communications at the University of Jamestown, N.D.

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