NEWBERG, Ore. — The City of Newberg awarded Turney Excavating Inc. the contract for a Main Street Waterline Replacement Project, stage I-4 in the HB2001 Water Line Improvement Project.
The project will involve boring casing under railroad lines on Main Street to replace the current 6- and 4-inch water pipes under the railroad with industry-standard 8-inch water lines. The pipes will then be connected to the Main Street Waterline on either side of the railroad.
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Newberg City Manager Will Worthey said that this project was intended to be a part of a larger-scale waterline replacement project, but that the bids received for the project exceeded the city’s budget and would have to be completed in the next 2-year budget cycle.
Bids received for Alternate Project A, the initial project, ranged from $697,000 – $1.18 million from five contractors. The bid date opened on July 7, 2026.
“We tried to see if we could afford to do the whole thing in one biennium because pipe prices were trending down,” Worthey said. “It didn’t pan out—the price was too much for us to do the whole thing in this biennium.”
The bids received for Alternate Project B were around half the cost, with the same five companies sending bids ranging from $326,000 – $552,000.
“Part of the reason we pulled [this] project as an alternate B was simply because the process of getting railroad permits is a six- to eight-month process,” said Mike Grimes, the project’s managing engineer. “And since we now have them and the permit is only valid for 60 days, we felt that it was important at this point to get that work done so we don’t have to start the process all over again next year.”
According to Worthey, this project rose to priority in the Water Line Improvement Project due to an issue in the pipe called cavitation.
“When you have this legacy piece of pipe where it constricts, you’re having the situation where the pressure gets far too high in the constricted section and it can also cause damage downstream after the narrow section when it comes back out to the full size pipe,” said Worthey.
The construction will run parallel to northbound Main Street and Grimes said it will extend 150 feet beyond the railroad right-of-way.
Once completed, the pipes running under the railroad will not be connected to the rest of the Main Street Waterline until the rest of the project is completed in 2027 due to cost, according to Grimes.
Because the five competitive bidding companies already submitted bids for Alternate Projects A and B, the estimated cost will be more accurate, according to Worthey.
The city awarded Turney Excavating Inc. the project with a bid of $325,647.50 for Alternate Project B, to be completed within 60 days.
Also at the August 3, 2026 Council Meeting
Street Seats Pilot Program renewed for an additional two years
Community Development Director Scott Siegel brought Resolution 2026-4035 to the council to discuss renewing the Street Seats program for two additional years. The program was started in 2015 and since then, has received one application from a business to add street seats to their storefront.
The Street Seats Program is designed to allow businesses to add additional outdoor seating through obtaining public parking spaces in downtown Newberg outside their respective storefronts. This is the fourth continuation of the pilot program since it’s inception in 2015. It was most recently renewed in August 2023.
City Manager reports on summer maintenance projects
In his monthly City Manager Report, City Manager Will Worthey reported that the curb painting project is complete, and that the mastic work has been done on 60% of the identified potholes, with the rest of the project being completed by the end of 2026.
Phase 2 of the crack sealing project is scheduled to be completed on time, consisting of Hillsdale Drive, Ivy Drive, and Oak Knoll. Grading and rehabilitation on gravel roads across town is completed. Roads that were crack sealed last year, which include Mountain View Drive and Springbrook Road, are set to be slurry sealed.
First week of August named Reservist Appreciation Week
Mayor Bill Rosacker signed a Proclamation for Reservists honoring and recognizing military reservists by naming the first week of August Reservist Appreciation Week.
