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Record of Proceedings

Joplin City Council Informal Session: Capital Improvements Update (May 4, 2026)

City Council — Monday, May 4, 2026
BodyJoplin, Missouri
SessionCity Council
DateMonday, May 4, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

All right, good evening.

0:02

We'll get started with our informal session here this evening.

0:06

And uh Mr.

0:08

Johnson, welcome.

0:09

It looks like you have a uh very detailed report to give us on capital improvement projects tonight.

0:16

Thank you, Mr.

0:16

Mayor.

0:16

I sure do.

0:17

I I would like to start off with just a uh oh kind of an overview statement about the capital improvements uh programs and projects.

0:27

Um I think as we're all aware, uh fuel prices uh uh are very high, and that's something that has an impact on all of our projects uh that we have uh going as well as projects that we're bidding out.

0:40

And I just want you to know that we have faced this before.

0:44

Uh we have some uh we have a playbook uh for dealing with these uh uh escalating fuel prices.

0:50

We have several tools that we deal with that.

0:53

Um we try to minimize the impact uh as much as we can, and I just wanted to let you know that that's something that we do factor in and we are uh considering with all of our projects.

1:05

Uh with that said, I'll uh go ahead and get started uh with the transportation projects.

1:15

Uh the first one there, uh Zora.

1:18

Uh so the original budget's uh nine million.

1:21

Uh phase one is complete, phase two is under construction, phase one being the roundabout uh at uh uh Duquesne.

1:32

And then uh phase three is set to bid this fall.

1:36

Phase two should be construct uh should be complete this fall.

1:39

So we hope to uh have them just go from one to the other.

1:46

20th Street widening.

1:48

Um the uh uh original budget was actually uh about sixteen million.

1:55

Um you don't see on here there's the construction contracts.

1:58

So we were we did come in under our budget.

2:01

Um but we did have thank you.

2:04

We did have um uh an additional three uh nearly three million in design and and other expenses.

2:12

Uh so we are well still well underneath that uh original budget.

2:17

Um we're in the construction phase.

2:19

We started with the uh country club uh roundabout, uh 20th and country club.

2:24

Uh that was because uh we wanted to get that done uh at the it affected the golf course, so we wanted to do that first in the winter um so that we wouldn't uh interfere with uh uh their more active time of year.

2:39

Uh then we rolled right into the the next uh sections.

2:43

Uh that was uh from Schifferdecker to Iron Gates, uh that straight section that the most uh residential uh area.

2:52

Uh so we're working on that now, as well as uh west of country club.

2:57

Uh so the two straight sections we're under construction now and they're going well.

3:02

Um the last uh after those are done and and open, uh then we'll uh move to the uh final roundabout at Central City, and that will be the last section, and that should be done uh towards the fall.

3:18

Willow branch uh stormwater improvements.

3:22

Uh the first section of that, which is just the portion in 7th Street, uh that is under contract with the uh uh uh the highway department.

3:32

Uh that's part of their contract, and so they will be doing that uh uh when they get to that section, which will be towards the end of that project.

3:42

Um the section, the the the next part that we're doing, uh that's uh a portion from 7th Street up to Wall.

3:51

Uh the city will be doing that.

3:53

We plan to bid that out uh towards the late fall, um and uh then we'll roll into construction with that.

4:01

And uh part three, which is the remainder of the of the proposed system, uh that will be that's currently set in our big schedule for 2031 construction.

4:20

Mr.

4:21

Dutar.

4:23

Sure.

4:24

Can I ask a question real quick, Dan?

4:25

Back on uh Willow Branch.

4:28

Just looking at that, the the parts uh the red that's highlighted in red and then the the green and red is going to be abandoned after.

4:36

So once the new branch, once the new stormwaters are built, those are good, those old ones are gonna be abandoned.

4:46

Right.

4:46

Um we we will leave them open because there is still some drainage in them.

4:52

Uh we'll work with the property owners to come up with their ultimately those really are not the cities.

5:00

Those are on private, and we don't even have easements for them.

5:03

But we will work with the property, uh the property owners to kind of help them figure out the best way of dealing with it.

5:10

And I think some of them can be filled in but uh flobable fill.

5:15

Uh but others, there's internal drainage from their own building, their downspouts, et cetera.

5:22

So we have to be cautious, and we'll we will facilitate the answers with them, but we'll be working with them as we go.

5:30

Okay.

5:30

That thanks for clearing that up because I know that was one of the things when I when this project was first brought to us a couple years ago.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Engineering And Infrastructure█████████████████████████████████████████████46%
Water And Wastewater Management██████████████████████████████████████39%
Transportation Safety██████6%
Airport Management█████5%
Parks and Recreation████4%
Summary of Proceedings

Joplin City Council Informal Session – Capital Improvements Update (May 4, 2026)

During the informal session on May 4, 2026, Public Works Director Dan Johnson presented a comprehensive status report on dozens of capital improvement projects, ranging from transportation and trails to stormwater and sanitary sewer systems. Council members asked clarifying questions and offered feedback. No formal votes were taken.

Discussion Items

  • Opening Remarks on Fuel Prices: Johnson noted that high fuel prices are impacting project costs and bids, but the city has a "playbook" and tools to minimize effects.

  • Transportation Projects:

    • Zora project: Original budget $9 million; phase one (roundabout at Duquesne) complete; phase two under construction; phase three to bid this fall.
    • 20th Street Widening: Original budget ~$16 million; came in under budget with nearly $3 million in additional design/expenses; construction underway on straight sections; final roundabout at Central City scheduled for fall completion.
    • Willow Branch Stormwater Improvements: 7th Street section under highway department contract; next portion from 7th to Wall to bid late fall; part three scheduled for 2031. Johnson confirmed old private storm lines will remain open for drainage and staff will work with property owners.
    • Silver Creek Improvements (I-44 Addition): Design phase; $10 million budget; coordinating with MoDOT on I-44 widening to three lanes, with MoDOT schedule driving the project.
    • Pennsylvania Avenue Viaduct: Demolition planned for fall; no decision yet on future use, pending council guidance.
    • Main Street (8th to 15th): Out to bid; bids open May 19; anticipated completion in 2027.

  • Trails, Parking, and Paving:

    • Tin Cup Trail: Substantially complete; bridge deck laying underway; expected done by July 4th.
    • Grand Falls Trail: Split into two projects (trail and trailhead/parking/overlook) for grant purposes; trail awaiting final agency clearance before MoDOT review and advertisement; trailhead plans 90–95% complete; both projects to bid and construct this summer.
    • 6th & Virginia Parking Garage: Final easements being settled; construction to begin soon.
    • Mill & Overlay: APAC contractor; project limited to Maiden Lane and Lone Elm; other streets deferred to next year due to utility work.

  • Airport Projects:

    • Runway 13/31 Mill & Overlay: Substantially complete; cost approximately $11.389 million.
    • Passenger Boarding Bridges: Under construction; old bridges have stopped working; fabricated units to be installed in two phases; completion by December.
    • North Perimeter Road: Out to bid; schedule tight to avoid starting road construction in October.

  • Stormwater Projects:

    • ARPA Stormwater Sites: Final walkthroughs completed at 9th & St. Louis and 5th & Porter; 15th & Texas paving done and striping underway; Division & Valley construction resumed after a railroad permit delay; Massachusetts & Murphy 85% complete and performing well; 26th & Industrial 33% complete and has handled recent storms; 12th & Wall substantially complete.
    • Sunnyvale Stormwater: 95% plans complete; easement acquisition and utility relocation ongoing; bid in fall with construction expected through next summer. In response to Mrs. Price, Johnson confirmed I-44 culvert phase one funds from the original Sunnyvale project were used for early design work.

  • Sanitary Sewer Projects:

    • Glendale Parallel Interceptor: Complete.
    • Tin Cup Parallel Force Main: Final easements being worked out; bid at latest in fall; material costs affected by oil prices but project will proceed.
    • ARPA Sanitary Sewer Renovation: Complete; closeout documents being processed.
    • ARPA Interceptor Improvements: Complete; contractor Rosetta Construction owner Victor is retiring and liquidating the company.
    • Public Sewer Rehab: Johnson has flexibility to defer some work.
    • Trickling Filters: Last of four nearly complete; all to be back online soon.

  • ARPA Water Line Extensions: Completed in partnership with Missouri American Water; closeout documents underway; project supports future development.

Key Outcomes

  • Council member Cortez thanked Johnson and his team for the volume of work.
  • Council member Confull requested a uniform presentation format for all projects, including budgeted amounts, phase-by-phase expenditures, and final costs against budget, to aid council and public understanding.
  • Council member Nutar asked about the project at 33% completion (26th & Industrial) and Johnson expressed confidence in meeting the schedule.
  • Mayor adjourned the informal session; regular session scheduled for 6:00 PM.

Meeting Transcript

All right, good evening. We'll get started with our informal session here this evening. And uh Mr. Johnson, welcome. It looks like you have a uh very detailed report to give us on capital improvement projects tonight. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I sure do. I I would like to start off with just a uh oh kind of an overview statement about the capital improvements uh programs and projects. Um I think as we're all aware, uh fuel prices uh uh are very high, and that's something that has an impact on all of our projects uh that we have uh going as well as projects that we're bidding out. And I just want you to know that we have faced this before. Uh we have some uh we have a playbook uh for dealing with these uh uh escalating fuel prices. We have several tools that we deal with that. Um we try to minimize the impact uh as much as we can, and I just wanted to let you know that that's something that we do factor in and we are uh considering with all of our projects. Uh with that said, I'll uh go ahead and get started uh with the transportation projects. Uh the first one there, uh Zora. Uh so the original budget's uh nine million. Uh phase one is complete, phase two is under construction, phase one being the roundabout uh at uh uh Duquesne. And then uh phase three is set to bid this fall. Phase two should be construct uh should be complete this fall. So we hope to uh have them just go from one to the other. 20th Street widening. Um the uh uh original budget was actually uh about sixteen million. Um you don't see on here there's the construction contracts. So we were we did come in under our budget. Um but we did have thank you. We did have um uh an additional three uh nearly three million in design and and other expenses. Uh so we are well still well underneath that uh original budget. Um we're in the construction phase. We started with the uh country club uh roundabout, uh 20th and country club. Uh that was because uh we wanted to get that done uh at the it affected the golf course, so we wanted to do that first in the winter um so that we wouldn't uh interfere with uh uh their more active time of year. Uh then we rolled right into the the next uh sections. Uh that was uh from Schifferdecker to Iron Gates, uh that straight section that the most uh residential uh area. Uh so we're working on that now, as well as uh west of country club. Uh so the two straight sections we're under construction now and they're going well. Um the last uh after those are done and and open, uh then we'll uh move to the uh final roundabout at Central City, and that will be the last section, and that should be done uh towards the fall. Willow branch uh stormwater improvements. Uh the first section of that, which is just the portion in 7th Street, uh that is under contract with the uh uh uh the highway department. Uh that's part of their contract, and so they will be doing that uh uh when they get to that section, which will be towards the end of that project. Um the section, the the the next part that we're doing, uh that's uh a portion from 7th Street up to Wall. Uh the city will be doing that. We plan to bid that out uh towards the late fall, um and uh then we'll roll into construction with that. And uh part three, which is the remainder of the of the proposed system, uh that will be that's currently set in our big schedule for 2031 construction. Mr. Dutar. Sure. Can I ask a question real quick, Dan? Back on uh Willow Branch. Just looking at that, the the parts uh the red that's highlighted in red and then the the green and red is going to be abandoned after. So once the new branch, once the new stormwaters are built, those are good, those old ones are gonna be abandoned.

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