Article By: Thomas Nelson
The City of Jackson, MN was recently awarded a $49,328 Business Development Public Infrastructure (BDPI) grant to extend a water main located in an industrial park. Upon being awarded the grant the City Council voted to award the contract for the project which is scheduled to begin in the first week of May 2018. The project will extend a 10” water main approximately 1,200 feet looping the existing water main; weather dependent, the project will take approximately a week to complete.
This is the third BDPI grant that Jackson has received with the first two being in 2005 and 2011. Community and Economic Development Associates (CEDA) team member Thomas Nelson, who authored the grant application, is excited about the project and the impact it will have. “The BDPI grant program has been a huge benefit to Jackson and has helped to create a truly remarkable industrial park,” Nelson said. “This project will not only help to keep the roughly 2,000 jobs located in the industrial park but also help to create more in the future.” One example of future development in the industrial park is a 30,000-square foot speculative building that is nearing completion and is reliant on the extension to provide the necessary pressure for its fire suppression system.
The CEDA authored grant award will pay for 50% of proposed improvements in the industrial park located along Industrial Parkway in northwest Jackson, MN. The City of Jackson will pay for will pay the 50% match, including engineering, and admin cost. The project was estimated to cost $121,106.40 with $98,656.00 of the cost being eligible for BDPI matching funds. The City Council awarded the contract to Ground Water Management Incorporated of Brewster, MN for $62,870.94. With the bid coming in under the estimated cost the city will not need to use the full amount of the grant.
The water main extension will loop the existing water main in order to provide sufficient water pressure, specifically for fire suppression in support of existing and future, manufacturing, warehousing, and disruption businesses in the industrial park. The project will boost the industrial park’s water supply to support an estimated demand of 1,715 gallons per minute while leaving a nearby system pressure residual of 32 psi which will create an adequate supply for fire protection in the industrial park as it continues to grow.