The Atlantic City Council Monday approved bids for various street repair projects that will get underway late this Spring or early Summer. Snyder and Associates Engineer Dave Sturm said there were two bids for the Hot Melt Asphalt (HMA) Paving and Storm Sewer Improvement project. He recommended the Council award the bid to Henningsen Construction of Atlantic. Their bid of slightly more than $1.88-million was about $40,000 over the engineers estimate of the project cost.

Sturm said also, there were four bids for Portland Cement Concrete (PCC) Paving and Storm Sewer Improvement project in the City. The engineer estimated the project would cost $801,000. But the low bid of $712,317 was received by Carley Construction in Treynor. Prior to approving the bid, the Council wanted assurances Carley wouldn’t fall behind and leave work undone like they did last year on 22nd Street in Atlantic, and that there would be penalties in-place for failing to get the job done in a timely manner. Sturm explained that prior to the past year, they hadn’t had any problems with Carley. He attributed last year’s problems to the company having taken on more work than they should have. He says this year, the contract is set up on a “working day count.”

Once they start, they have 60 working days to complete the job, not counting weekends and rain days. Their work must begin no later than June 1st. Sturm says failure to complete the job within 60 working days will result in a fine of anywhere from $500-to $1,000 per day. Two other major improvement projects the City accepted bids for Wednesday, included a PCC patching project, and repair of the City Park sidewalk. Coffman Engineering’s Ken Coffman recommended the Council approve a low bid from Ten Point Construction in Denison of $287,785 for the PCC patching job. There were six bidders for the project, which the engineer had estimated would cost $276, 472.

The company has to begin work on the project by no later than April 2nd, and has 60 working days to complete it in order to avoid a $400 per day penalty. Coffman said the construction projects will cause some disruption in traffic flow in some areas of town, and detours in others. He says people will have to get used to one-lane traffic, flaggers and pilot vehicle on Olive Street, from about Commerce to the City limits near the KJAN studios, while the PCC patching project is underway. Coffman also recommended a low bid of $22, 319 from Precision Concrete in Atlantic, for the City Park sidewalk project. That was about $3,000 less than the engineer’s estimate. The total cost of the projects approved by the Council amounts to slightly more than $2.9-million, which is below the engineer’s estimates of nearly $3.52-million.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety has issued an AMBER ALERT for a child abducted from Des Moines, effective at 3:15-a.m.. Authorities say a 3-year old white male, Nicholas Jimmerson, was abducted from a residence in Des Moines.

Melanie Stout (suspected abductor/biological mother)

Nicholas is about 3-feet tall, weighs 35-pounds, has brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a black “Batman” t-shirt with yellow, long sleeves, black sweatpants, and black shoes. He has a shaved, tribal-style design cut into his hair on the left side of his head. (There is no picture of the child available from officials) He was allegedly taken by two white females, 22-year old Melanie Elaine Stout, Nicholas’ biological mother, who does not have custody of him, and 25-year old Amber Jo Johnson.

Stout is 5-feet 6-inches tall, weighs about 126 pounds, has brown hair and green eyes. Johnson is 5-feet four inches tall, 109-pounds, has short brown hair and hazel eyes. The was wearing a white t-shirt with black sweatshirt and stripes, and blue jeans. The suspects are believed to be driving a maroon 2001 Ford Taurus, with Iowa license plate 831 YLY. Direction of travel is unknown.

If you see the suspects, the child, or the vehicle, call 9-1-1 immediately.

Amber Jo Johnson (suspected abductor)

The Atlantic City Council Wednesday evening passed a Resolution honoring retiring Wastewater Treatment Plant Superintendent George Evans. Evans is wrapping 39-years of service to the City, which Mayor Dave Jones called “A great accomplishment in itself.”

George Evans (left) receives a plaque & congratulations from Mayor Jones

Jones says Evans will stick around for a couple of months, as a consultant to the City and to his replacement, Mark Farrier, until the new 14-million dollar wastewater treatment plant comes on-line. In his final report to the Council, Evans said the new plant will be up-and-running very soon. He says the pre-treatment building on the east side of Sunnyside lane will be online first, with start-up of the main plant sometime in April or May.

City Administrator Doug Harris says the original schedule called for the plant to begin  testing in March, but there was an issue with receiving certain electrical components that caused the timeline to be pushed back slightly. Evans says there’s much testing that needs to be done before the changeover is official. He says they want to keep the old facility available for a little while, until the new plant is fully operational. Evans says that shouldn’t violate any state regulations.

Once the new plant is fully online, the current plant, which is more than 60-years old, will be demolished. Plans to replace the current facility began in 2006, when the Iowa D-N-R ordered the City to build a million-gallon retention basin, or lagoon, because the current facility was deemed incapable of handling storm water run-off during times of intense rain events.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sprouts from the sandwich chain Jimmy John’s have been linked to an outbreak of foodborne illness — again. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that 12 cases of E. coli poisoning in five states are linked to clover sprouts eaten at Jimmy John’s restaurants. The outbreak comes a year after sprouts from one of the chain’s suppliers were linked to 140 salmonella illnesses. Sprouts from the chain were also linked to a 2009 salmonella outbreak in several Midwestern states and were suspected in an E. coli outbreak in Colorado in 2008. The CDC reports more than 30 sprout outbreaks in the last 15 years. Sprouts need warm and humid conditions to grow, encouraging bacterial growth.